


Fear: Reap REDUX

by Insolentknight



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Undeath, Earth Is Canon, F/F, Fantasy, Major Character Semblence Alteration, Mystery, Mystery Character(s), Original Character(s), Out of Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-03-27 09:42:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13878249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insolentknight/pseuds/Insolentknight
Summary: After running into a strange Grimm-like creature, Weiss and Blake attempt to uncover the secrets behind their partners' pasts and how the two are related to the creature. Their findings land them in the middle of a nefarious plot and a family feud, buried beneath Remnant's darkest secrets and twisted Dust experiments. Non-cannon RWBY-verse.





	1. Arrival I

**Author's Note:**

> Thought I'd bring another story over from FF that I've been working on! It's a re-write of the original and is a lot clearer and more concise than the original.

 

**_ Are you absolutely sure you don’t want my power? _ **

_Yes._

**_ Not even the tiniest sliver? _ **

_Of that, I am certain…_

**_ Hahaha, Little Rose, you will push me away, but like all the others before you, you will one day beg on your hands and knees... _ **

_I will never need you… Reaper…_

**_ And like all the others, I will lift you to your feet and welcome you with open arms and we will stand proudly as one – as master and monster. _ **

Silver eyes fluttered open, taking in the tiny dark avian blurs that flapped their wings just beyond the thick reinforced glass. Each little bird traveled seamlessly as one, blindly following their leader toward the peaks of the distant bold structures that spoke of the strength and wisdom of Vale – a destination  they both shared. Sighing to herself, she peered out at the vast canopies below the giant Bullhead that air-bussed “Beacon’s future” to their new home for the next four years.

So many thoughts weighed on her mind as she considered the exciting and trying times ahead of her and maybe, for once, she could get a taste of normalcy, even if just for a bit. She leaned back, suspending her weight from the bar she had previously rested herself on and a louder sigh escaped her. Somewhere further off, some guy gagged on his own bile, adding a most unpleasant soundtrack to their long journey. As her silver eyes probed the other passengers for the origin of the aforementioned sounds, a flash of yellow and brown latched itself onto her, with a firm smack to her back. Ruby doubled over and coughed as her lungs attempted to recover from the sudden force, but she found her head locked between a single arm and a pair of huge breasts.

“Aw! Baby sis! You made it!” The blonde excitedly hugged her crimson-cloaked sister closer. “I’m so proud of youuu!”

“Ack, Yang! Seriously!” Ruby struggled against her to no avail. “Lemme go!” The harder she struggled, the wider Yang’s grin became… until she simply let go and Ruby crashed to the ground. “Ow! That was mean, Yang,” Ruby whined.

“Ah, you’ll get over it! You’ll be fine,” Yang brushed her off. “Anyway, you excited yet?”

“Well, I mean, yeah, we’ve basically spent the last eight years preparing for this!” Ruby gave her a “duh” expression. “I guess I’m just a little nervous about how things are gonna’ end up. New place. New people…” Ruby turned face her sister, who had been anticipating this and replied with a grin. “I doubt anyone will know who we are…”

“Aw, Rubes! Don’t be so,” a sly look spread across Yang’s face as she paused for dramatic effect. “Yang-xious!” Yang stared expectantly at her sister now frozen face, savoring every moment of her silence.

“Did... Did you just?” Yang’s smirk became a toothless grin. “… I don’t even know why it surprises me anymo-”. Ruby was rudely interrupted as Yang rubbed her cheek against Ruby’s face. Once more, the sounds of the skysick boy echoed through the ship. Finally, the sisters traced the sound back to the pathetic sight of an ill-armored blonde boy.

“Ooh… That’s just sad,” Yang stated. “Well, at least we’re not in for a future as rough as Barf Boy, right there.” As if on cue, the Bullhead rocked as it hit turbulence and Barf Boy finally lost the ability to contain himself. Someone in the distance cursed about their shoes, followed by the weak apologies of the sickly boy. The two sisters focused on the screen parallel to them and cringed at the sight. An image of two cloaked women stood menacingly on a ship somewhat reminiscent of an armored yacht.

“Locals in Patch were overjoyed, to say the least, when they were paid a visit by the infamous duo, Reaper and Scylla.” A girl with orange hair squealed with excitement and dragged a boy over to the screen.

“Renny! Look!” The girl danced around and Yang gritted her teeth, balling her hands into a fist.

“Yang…” Ruby placed a hand firmly on the blonde’s shoulder and spoke with a stern voice. She looked back at her sister, who shut her eyes and moved her head slowly back and forth. She was right. This wasn’t the time or place. She let go of her anger and turned back to this screen. There was no reason to explode over this.

“The pair dispatched a large population of Beowolves that had made their home in a neighboring forest. As always, it’s exciting to hear what these two are doing, but I’m sure we are all wondering if we’ll see them participating in this year’s UHC fights! Won’t that be exciting?... Back to you, Lisa!” The screen switched to a lavender female newscaster that droned on about uninteresting events and bored the sisters to death, until that same squeal from earlier sounded off.

“Oh my Dust! Ruby! Yang! Is that you?!” The orange-haired bundle of excitement bounced over to the duo with her friend in tow.

“Ack! Nora, please! Air!”

“Air is for the weak, Ren!” Nora imitated a drill sergeant. “Defeat your weakness!”

“Hey, Ruby,” Yang whispered. “Was she **always** this crazy?”

“You tell me!” The red-head whispered loudly. “You trained with her!”

“Yeah! For, like, a year!” Unaware of the conversation, Nora sudden locked her determined sights onto the sisters. “Oh, hi, Nora! We didn’t see you here!... On this particular bullhead!...” An arm clawed at the air from beneath Nora. “Um… Nora, I don’t think Ren is supposed to be that shade of blue… or any shade of blue.”

“Whaaat?” She looked down at her suffocating comrade and dismissed it. “Pshhhh! He’s fine! He got some air earlier!” Her foot began to jar as he started to cough. “Geez! Overreact much?” She lifted her foot and he sat up, gasping for the sweet oxygen that now filled his lungs.

“Nora, you gotta’ be better to your boyfriend.”

“Whaaat? B-boyfriend?!” Nora withdrew and began to twiddle her fingers. “I mean we’re together, but we’re not together –together. I mean,” she threw her hand behind her head. “That would be so weird! Right, Renny? Hahahahah!” That laugh was fake.

“Uh… yeah…” The quiet boy looked away, clearly hurt by her lack of understanding. Maybe one day she’d realize why he put up with her crazy antics. “What are you two doing here?”

“Um, well, this **is** the Bullhead to Beacon, right?” Yang answered with a question.

“Well, yeah, but that’s my point. Why?”

“Renny means that you two don’t even need to be here.” She paused. “We came over because we couldn’t agree. He thought you were two different people because there’s no reason for you to be here. Are you just hitching a ride to Vale? Cuz there are other ways.”

“No, no. Yang and I are attending Beacon and getting licensed,” Ruby answered plainly.

“But why not just take the licensing test?” Nora asked thoughtfully. “Wouldn’t that be faster?”

“Well, as Uncle Qrow says, nothing like hands-on experience!” Yang pumped her arms excitedly and Ruby sighed.

“The Hall thinks that we’re missing something that we need to find for ourselves and Beacon is the place to do it, so we’re doing as they asked,” Ruby smiled. “Our hands are tied and there’s nothing we can do.”

 “In other news, an armed robbery was thwarted by Signal Academy Student, Ruby Rose.” The image of an orange-haired man with a white petticoat flashed across the screen. “While we were unable to get a few words from her, we have been told that a full scholarship to Beacon Academy has been awarded. It seems that Beacon truly looks for the best for Remnant’s future. If anyone has any information about the man in this picture, please alert your local authorities.”

“That’s so cool, Rubes! You’re totally gonna’ have to tell me about it later! I gotta’ hear about how **my baby sis** became a child prodigy AND a hero!” Yang followed up with another bear hug.

 “Yang, it’s not that big of a deal! You know I’m no hero!” Ruby thought back to the entire ordeal the news had referenced. Just as the news reported, it had gotten Beacon’s attention and landed her a spot in the largely coveted academy. Truth be told, if they hadn’t had their eye on a few particular individuals, Ruby wouldn’t have even cared to have gone looking into the recent string of Dust robberies… but then there was that woman… Ruby smirked to herself as she recalled the shocked look in that woman’s eyes every time they met. That moment where the only ones that mattered in the world were herself and the woman that knew it was only a matter of time before her own life slipped from her fingertips and she would never know her killer’s face… but then Ozpin’s assistant had appeared and ruined the hun-… the moment. Hunting implied she enjoyed herself… Hunting was for Grimm, not humans… but they were so boring… always the same. She longed for an opponent who would looked her dead-on and give her the challenge she desired… The thrill…

 While Glynda had been hesitant about Ruby’s admission, Ozpin had been overly excited to have Ruby join their ranks, muttering something about silver eyes. But he couldn’t have known, could he? Then again, she had once been told to seek out Ozpin if she was in a bind. Of course, Ruby wasn’t, so that was neither here nor there. It had been very unnerving, the way Glynda had been eying her the entire time and Ruby was almost certain that she had picked up that Ruby was anything but normal. That could make life at Beacon very difficult if she wasn’t careful.

“Of course it is!” Yang dropped Ruby and got into a defensive stance and began punching at the air. “I bet you were all like – haht! Hyut! Hyuh! HIYAAAAH!”

“… You’ve been playing Legend of Zorldo again, haven’t you?” Ruby deadpanned at her sister.

“Hey! It’s a fun game!” The brawler defended. “I’m just sayin’, you went in all heroic and stuff and saved the day! You’re gonna’ be popular! Like, so deep in…” Yang considered what she was about to say to her **baby** sister. “You’ll be the bee’s knees.”

“But I don’t **want** to be popular. For once, I just want to be a normal girl. You know the kind with normal knees?” Ruby lamented. A tranquil DING hummed over the speakers and a video display of a blonde woman with her hair in a sophisticated bun – Glynda - began an introductory video to Beacon.

**ooOOoo**

Several students trudged along, aimlessly searching for their destinations. Boots clanking against the Bullhead’s off-ramp, Yang reached toward the sky in a powerful stretch and let out a loud yawn to chase away the stiffness from the long flight. Opening a single eye, she decided to cut her moment of bliss short and look for the sister that ran ahead of her. As she scanned the area, Nora bounded off shouting a farewell and promising to see the blonde and her sister at a later time. With a loud grunt, she dragged the dark haired boy in green with her.

Suddenly, a low rumble shook the ground, followed by an almost Harpy-like shriek and the older sister honed in on a painfully bright-dressed girl who appeared to be really laying into her baby sis. As the girl in white ranted, another girl with a black bow perched atop her head crept up behind the agitated looking girl, waiting for the perfect moment to chime in. Before the new girl said anything, Yang noted a look of terror spread across the winter-schemed girl’s eyes and made a mental note to ask Ruby about it later. For now, Yang decided to watch how it all played out and observe her little sister’s… “people skillz”.

**ooOOoo**

 

“Seriously, you dolt! The least you can do is watch where you’re going! Do you even know what this is? This is Dust… You know, DUST!” The irate girl in white held up a vial of red powdered Dust for emphasis. “Mined and purified from the Schnee Quarry!”

“Sorry?” Ruby held up her hands defensively. Of course she knew what the hell Dust was! She worked with it every single day, but she needed to calm the girl’s tirade down. Still upset, the girl waved around the vial, sending barely visible clouds in Ruby’s direction and continued on her rant. Ruby sniffled a little as her nose became irritated by the unseen particles. “uuu… uwwww….uoaaauhh….Aaa-”

“Are you even listening? What do you have to say for yourself?!”

“CHOO!!!” An explosion encased the angry girl as the sudden force of Ruby’s sneeze came into contact with the highly flammable dust. A silent rage permeated through the air as the rampaging girl’s pristine white clothes were singed by flames. This was the calm before the storm and Ruby gulped as she prepared for the worst. A loud shriek suddenly pierced Ruby’s ears as the singed girl exploded with anger.

“Unbelievable! This is **exactly** what I was talking about! Aren’t you a little young to be here? What are you even doing here?!” This girl was really beginning to wear on Ruby’s patience. She could almost envision herself choking this girl out. Somewhere along the way, Ruby had tuned her out in preference of her own imagination. When she finally returned to reality, the girl had begun to slow her words and a short-lived look of terror flashed through her eyes. _I swear to_ _Dust, if she questions my ability one more time… Ah, crap. Fix your face, Ruby. You don’t want her afraid._

“I said I was sorry, Princess,” Ruby spat back.

“It’s _heiress_ , actually,” a new voice calmly corrected her. Their attention turned to a new girl – one dressed in black and white with golden eyes and flowing black hair. Atop her head sat a neatly tied black bow, and in her hands, she held a book and a red dust vial. “Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company – one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world.” A smug expression weaved across Weiss’ face, as she folded her arms.

“Finally, some recognition!”

“Also, known for their questionable business practices.” Weiss was taken aback at this accusation.

“What! How dare you!” As Ruby giggled to herself, Weiss snatched the dust vial from the new girl’s hands and stormed off. Ruby turned back to ask for the new girl’s name, but she was nowhere to be found. The crimson girl pouted to herself.

“Awww… where’d kitty go?” Ruby fell backward and exhaled in frustration. “Welcome to Beacon…” It was already off to a pretty rough start and she wasn’t particularly fond of dealing with people to begin with. Normally, this was Yang’s job. It was different having to get to know new people all over again.

“Hey...” Barf boy? The sickly blonde boy in armor from earlier offered a hand toward her. ”I’m Jaune.” From her seat on the ground, Ruby laughed and took his hand.

“Ruby.” She replied. “Aren’t you the guy that threw up on the ship?”

**ooOOoo**

“Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuubes!!!!!” A giant mane of blonde hair tackled Ruby and she found herself suffocated in her sister’s chest once more. After struggling for a minute, she finally broke free of the infamous Xiao Long Hugger Hold. “I am **so** super stoked right now! How’s your first day been going?! I see you made a friend!” She eagerly looked at Jaune.

“First off, Yang, how did you find me in this crowd of people? Second… Horrible… I managed to blow someone up and she yelled at me!” Yang straightened up and grinned from ear to ear.

“I know! Oh ho ho ho!” She laughed haughtily.

“What do you mean ‘you know’?!” Ruby asked in disbelief.

“Oh yeah! I watched the whole thing! Man, she **reamed** you a new one! I even took commemorative photos! See!” Yang pulled out her Scroll and started showing images to Jaune. “This is the first time Ruby stared out the window on the way to Beacon! This is the first time Ruby fangirled over weapons also on the way to Beacon! And **this…** this is my favorite - the first time Ruby got yelled at by a Schnee at Beacon!...” As Ruby scrambled for Yang’s phone, Yang held her at arm’s length via the hand-to-forehead technique. “Nope, sis! We’re doing this!”

“Yaaaaang,” Ruby whined. Suddenly, she froze. It felt as if daggers were being stared into her back.

“Look, Rubes! Your favoritest friend!”

“YOU!” _Oh no…_ Ruby silently prayed to herself before she looked back to find the infamous Weiss Schnee tromping towards her. The crimson-caped girl jumped into her sister’s arms for protection and squeaked inwardly.

“Oh God, it’s happening again!”

“You’re lucky we weren’t blown off the side of a cliff,” Weiss scolded.

“Oh my god, you really exploded,” Yang mumbled in shock.

“You said you were watching!!!” Ruby yelled.

“Well… I saw the whole yelling part,” Yang laughed weakly. As she let Ruby down, Ruby was met with a pamphlet in her face, boldly labeled with the Schnee name.

“Uh, what’s this?” Ruby took it and flipped through it, as Weiss effortlessly recited some sort of ridiculous company disclaimer that Ruby could have sworn she had heard a million times in commercials. The ivory girl took a deep breath before ordering Ruby to read through it and never speak to her again. Yang tried to play peacekeeper between them to no avail and just as she was about to lose her temper, Headmaster Ozpin began his welcome speech. Shortly after, he was followed up by his assistant, Glynda, who laid out the itinerary for the next few days.

**ooOOoo**

Mind drifting, she counted the knots in the oak panels of the auditorium walls and spread herself across the sleeping mat on the floor. Having not been assigned rooms, the new students were to sleep in an easily accessed and neutral area. Outside of being told that tomorrow’s initiation would determine their teams, they were only informed that rooms would be co-ed, so they had best get comfortable with the idea.

Still staring at the ceiling, she absently ran her right hand along her left arm, tracing the grooves hidden beneath the long sleeve. It was almost a nightly ritual. Her thoughts would drift to simpler times; times when her family was still whole; times before she had been injured. Her fingers came across a rounded area and brushed against sensitive flesh, causing her to hiss in pain. So much still needed to be done, but she was still in so, so much pain; pain that would remain with her throughout the rest of her life, but all that mattered was that she had been able to regain the use of her injured limb. It was just… tedious to keep up a normal façade.

**_ You can never go back… _ **

**_I thought I told you I didn’t need you..._ **

**_ “Didn’t?” Heh heh. Reminiscing about the past will only drown you in its allure. _ **

**_I DON’T need you. This is your fault anyway._ **

**_ Very well. Despise me, if you will, but do stay sane. You wouldn’t want to… lose yourself, would you? _ **

Ever the swift reminder that she was indeed cursed, the voice always taunted her when she least wanted its presence. Oh, how she wished it would go away, but it was a part of her – something that would always exist. Cursed and injured – that was who Ruby Rose was. This was what defined her and she had to make it her own. It was such a daunting task, but if Mom could do it, she too would tame the darkness within herself. THUMP! The crimson and coal girl snapped from her trance, with her attention now drawn to the boisterous blonde that had made a point of her arrival.

 “Hey, cheer up,” Yang said softly. Taking notice of Ruby’s vacant stare, the older sister motioned to her arm. “C’mon, you’re all worried about that when you should be making friends, Rubes! You know, people to hang out with!” Yang took a huge sweeping look across the room and waggled her eye brows. “Guys to look at!”

“Who? Jaune?” They giggled as the aforementioned boy strutted past proudly in a baby blue onesie. Ruby turned back to Yang, but a pillow firmly planted itself against her face.

 “No! Bleh! Bad! Bad, Ruby!” The same pillow plowed into Ruby’s face once again and she fell over. “We don’t say things like that here!”

“I don’t think dad would approve of all the boys here, anyway, Yang.”

“Well, I approve,” Yang teased, earning a pillow to the face as payback. With a grin, Yang patted the mat Ruby laid on and pulled her up. “C’mon! Let’s find you some friends!”

“Yang, I don’t **know** anyone here!” Ruby turned away from Yang and instantly spotted the dark-haired girl from earlier curled up with candlelight and a book. “Oh, wait, her! The girl from earlier.” Seeing an opportunity, Yang grabbed Ruby’s hand and eagerly dragged her toward the raven-haired girl, stopping only when they reached her. “Yang, I don’t want to do this,” Ruby hissed. Yang stood in front of the girl expectantly until she was acknowledged.

“Too late,” Yang jeered at Ruby. “Hi!” The girl’s golden eyes focused back onto her book.

“…Hi…” She eventually replied when she realized they weren’t leaving. Recalling the earlier incident with the Schnee heiress, she was drawn to the more sheepish, younger sister. “Aren’t you that girl that blew up earlier?”

“Er, yeah,” Ruby scratched at her head and laughed weakly. “Name’s Ruby!” She reached out for a hopeful handshake. “But you can just call me… er… Well… Ruby.” The darker girl turned back to her book and cracked a smile at Ruby’s awkwardness.

“Okay.” The darker girl was a woman of few words, but her voice held an amused quality to it. That much was obvious.

“What are you doing?!” Yang whispered.

“I don’t know!” Ruby panicked. “Help me!”

“Sooo, I’m Yang – Ruby’s **totally** hot stuff big sister!” The busty blonde chimed in. “What’s your name?”

“Blake…” Blake emphasized her answer with a flip of a page and remained engrossed with the story. Yang looked from Blake to Ruby and then back to Blake, noticing Ruby intently staring at the darker girl’s hair bow.

“I like your bow! It’s pretty awesome!” Yang tried to drive the conversation.

“Yeah… it’s almost as awesome as this book!... Which I will continue to read… As soon as you’re gone…” Yang got the hint.

“Nupe! Boooring! This one’s a lost cause. Let’s get outta’ here, Rubes.” Yang turned to walk away but realized Ruby wasn’t following. “Rubes?”

“What’s it about?” Ruby’s question was met with Blake’s eyes. “The story, I mean.” Blake seemed to be contemplating for a moment.

“A man with two souls that fights for control over his body.” As Blake described the story, Yang felt her body run cold and she looked at Ruby’s arm. Clenching her fists, she gritted her teeth and remembered what lay ahead in her baby sister’s future. _Dammit… and I’m the one that told her not to think about it…_

“As a kid, Yang used to read to me when I got scared. Stories about heroes that made the world a better place and drove away evil… That’s kinda’ why I’m here. I decided to fix all of our mistakes.” At the sound of her name, Yang eased into a softer expression as she remembered the days when Ruby was scared and needed her big sister. Hell, now they both needed each other. They were all the other really had… but her sister’s words held a deeper meaning to her. She yawned to herself as the two continued to talk and began to inch towards their sleeping mats. It was best to dwell on her concerns later. Yang collapsed onto her mat and made herself comfortable. Rubes would be along any minute, so she would wait.

“That’s awfully ambitious for a kid, Ruby. The world can be a terrible place and you can’t shoulder all of its problems. If you want to live in a world of dreams, you’ll never see the world for what it truly is.” Blake and Ruby’s eyes connected as if to share their individual stories. They could both see a history of pain and hurt mirror in the other’s eyes. Eyes still locked, Ruby knelt down and cocked her head to the side.

“Is that why you hide, Blake?”

“Excuse me?” Breaking eye contact for a moment, Ruby peered over her shoulder to make sure Yang had gone.

“I don’t know about you, but our most precious secrets are often hidden in plain sight. I have a talent for finding these truths.” Ruby gave a supportive smile and spoke quietly. “And the truth is that the more you deny yourself, the more you will hurt… but don’t worry. Your secret’s safe, kitty. I’ll shoulder your mistakes too. I just wanted to say thank you for earlier, but now, I want you to know that dreams are worth fighting for… and so is freedom.” Reflecting the moon’s light, silver eyes gazed deeply into Blake’s golden irises, connecting on a spiritual level. Standing tall, the redhead shifted a glance toward the shattered moon beyond the window and spoke in a distant voice. “ _The dreams of today are the foundation for the dreams of tomorrow_ … Someone once told me that.” With that, Ruby stood up and clumsily waltzed over to Yang, leaving Blake sickly and pale, yet feeling as if she had just experienced something profound… Did Ruby know who she was?


	2. Arrival II

 

“Sooo, once we hit the forest, you find me and then Sunrise for the win!” Warming up for the big day, Yang stretched an arm across the opposite shoulder. They were now preparing to run a trial to locate some relic in the middle of the expansive Emerald Forest that lay just beyond the Beacon Academy. Despite Yang’s enthusiasm, most of the other students weren’t particularly thrilled about the idea of running into the variety of Grimm that plagued the wilderness before them - especially Jaune. Save for a select few, Ruby and Yang seemed to be the only ones excited to get some fresh air and exercise.

“All students please step onto your respective launch pad! Once you have landed, the first fellow student whose eyes you meet will be your partner for the next four years.” Ozpin called from behind. “You will each be responsible for your own landing strategy!” Systematically, the pads began to launch students one at a time every few seconds. At this point, Jaune posed a few questions about landing that mostly fell on deaf ears, aside from a red-headed gladiator that was focused solely on him. As the red-head launched, Yang put on some shades and prepared for her own launch.

“Mmmm, Yang…” Ruby said nervously. “I think we should see other people!” Ruby twiddled her fingers as Yang’s head darted in her direction.

“Wait, wha-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-.“ Completely caught off-guard, Yang flailed through the air as she was launched mid-protest. Yang watched as the crimson girl spiraled away, happily waving farewell to her, growing ever smaller with the distance. As for Ruby, she traded expressions for one of determination and focused on her destination. Today, this forest was her proverbial “bitch” and she was going to own it.

**ooOOoo**

Gliding through the air, Ruby scanned the thick canopy until she found what she was looking for. Finally running out of momentum, Ruby deployed her sniper-scythe, catching it on trunk of a nearby tree. The weight of the weapon spun her around the tree and she used the momentum to plant her feet on one of its more sound and girthy branches. Filled her lungs with the fresh, forest air, closed her eyes and spread out her aura to scan for her objective.

“Phew! Well, today’s gonna’ be a fun one,” she had developed a knack for talking to herself out of the presence of others. It somehow kept her grounded. “Let’s see.” Collapsing the giant scythe back to its compact form, Ruby lifted a small panel that revealed a small screen and a few button. Flipping through the various commands, she came across one labeled ‘Arti’ and switched it to ‘Enabled’. A humming sound came from her arm and she hissed at the stinging pain as her aura flashed around her for a moment, adhering to her person. _Alright! Now, we can get this party started!_ Locking the panel back in place, she attached Crescent Rose to her sash and sped on her way full of new vigor.

About half a mile later, Ruby found the forest’s lack of Grimm to be a little unnerving, but maybe the teachers cleared the population a bit for the more novice students. Scanning through the trees, she honed in on the familiar fuming of an agitated person and caught a glimpse of the white figure. _Oh,_ _just who I was looking for!_ Ruby rolled her eyes at the sight, took another deep breath, and pushed through the bushes. Apparently, she was loud enough to cause alarm. With the crack of splintering wood, the Schnee girl spun around in alarm. Recognition spread across the heiress’ face and the scowl returned to her face.

“Hi!” A nervous smile worked across Ruby’s lips and she gave a small wave. Their eyes met for a few moments and Ruby summoned her ability to speak. “Sooo, I guess we’re partn-“. Weiss spun around and stormed off in the opposite direction of Ruby.

** Smooth ** . 

**_Shut it._ **

“Dammit.” Ruby mumbled to herself and sagged in defeat. A few seconds later, hurried footsteps approached her from the direction Weiss had walked in and Ruby reached for Crescent Rose. She really wasn’t in any mood for Grimm right now, but instead of the attack she had anticipated, something snagged her collar and pulled her in another direction. Spotting the familiar white-heeled boots, Ruby perked up and found the owner of the boots to be Weiss. “You came back!”

“I’m choosing the lesser of two idiots.” Weiss huffed. Pinned to a tree by the gold-trimmed red javelin Ruby recognized as Pyrrha Nikos’, Jaune waved a timid hello to Ruby. At first, Ruby was going to assist the suspended boy, but Weiss tugged at her collar once more. “Pyrrha will be needing that sooner or later. Let’s just get this over with… and try not to get in my way.” At first, Ruby seemed as if she would defy the heiress, but then she smiled and gave him an apologetic look.

“Sorry Jaune, but she’s not wrong,” Ruby paused. “Think you could hold out just a little longer?” Without giving him time to answer, Ruby trotted off after Weiss.

“Yeah… sure…” Jaune sighed and hunched over. “I’ll just… hang around…”

“Jaune?” He looked up to the see the timid smile of the famed gladiator.

**ooOOoo**

 “How about a cute little pony?” Yang teased, holding up a golden knight piece. All the “relics” were based off of a chess set, with a number of the black and gold pieces having already been picked off. Obviously, Yang and her partner weren’t the first to arrive, but they certainly weren’t the last!

“Sure.” Blake ventured over to her new partner to examine the piece.

“That wasn’t too hard!” The blonde proclaimed.

“Well, it’s not like this place was very difficult to find,” Blake pointed out. An ill feeling washed over her senses as the surrounding area began to exude a strange energy - whatever was about to happen didn’t exactly make for warm feelings. Adding to her anxiety, she couldn’t help but keep hearing something that sounded like a gnat getting closer to her ears. Catching the subtle twitch of irritation from her partner’s bow, Yang gasped as realization set in and her heart went out to her partner’s newly discovered Faunus side.

Yang’s heart swelled with a newfound respect for the woman’s dedication to discretion. No wonder Blake had caught Ruby’s attention the day before. It had to be a pain in the ass to keep them so still all the time. A thought crossed her mind to ask, but maybe a later time would be better. For now, she should focus on warming her partner up to her, and this was something that Yang Xiao Long prided herself in! With one hand, Yang threw her shades on, and with the other, she hung it around her new partner’s shoulders and reeled her in close.

“Stick with me, Blakey, and we’re gonna’ shine bright like a –oof!” With a blur of red and black, Yang suddenly disappeared from Blake’s side, leaving her stiffened with surprise. Eyes venturing down, she located her downed partner in the mass of jumbled limbs and identified the blur as another fellow classmate.

“Nice catch, Yang,” came Ruby’s disoriented voice.

“Yeah, no prob, sis.” Having the wind knocked out of her, the equally delirious blonde coughed out a reply and Blake rolled her eyes at the ridiculous display before her. Well, at least this explained the pesky gnat that Blake couldn’t get rid of. Any longer and her cover might have been blown. “Blakey?”

“What?” The concerned raveness knelt down to get a better look at the blonde brawler. She sincerely hoped neither of the girls was hurt. This would be an incredibly inconvenient situation if she had to carry, not one, but both of them back to base.

“uuhuu… She… came in…” Jumping to her feet, Yang took a proud stance and excitedly readjusted her shades. “Like a wrecking ball!” With a twitch of her eye, Blake buried her face into her palm as the buxom blonde bounced around triumphantly. Good god, four more years of this and they hadn’t even gotten to the initiation ceremony.

“She’s been trying to get one of those out all day… Be thankful you don’t have to live with her every day!” Ruby lamented. Taking notice of the chess piece and Blake’s widened eyes, she put two and two together. “Oh, wait… I forgot. We have to live with our partners… Well, I might as well warn you. She’s got like a daily quota for jokes and puns. Today’s theme was ‘Song lines in awkward situations’. Trust me – it gets worse and I am extremely sorry.”

“I’m not **that** bad, Rubes! Quit making me out to be a horrible person!”

“You’re puns are terrible, Yaaaang!”

“What can I say Rubes!” The blonde grinned mischievously. “I’m all about the PUNishment!”

“FOR THE LOVE OF REMNANT!” Ruby yelled in aggravation. “GET OUT!”

“… But I’m already outside!”

“Of Beacon!”

“But we just got here, Rubes, and I have yet to prove myself,” the older sister grinned slyly. “It would be a real PUNundrum if I had to get all ramPUNctious!” She congratulated her as Ruby fumed in front of her. “After all, I’m the PUNstoppable Yang Xiao Long!”

“OH MY REMNANT, WHY!!!!!!”

“Um, Ruby, I was wondering,” Blake interrupted the dispute between the bickering siblings. “Everyone else landed a while ago… How did you manage enough air time to make it all the way here?”

“Oh… hahaha… You know…” Ruby laughed nervously and pressed her fingers together nervously. “Creativity?”

“No partner yet?”

“I… wouldn’t say that either.” The black and red clad girl guiltily averted her eyes. A skeptical look chiseled its way onto the Faunus’ face but a sudden sound beckoned her attention. **SKRAAAAW**!  An ominous figure obscured by the sun’s light cast a shadow over the girls, who squinted as they tried to get a better look. “So, funny story!... And this actually answers **both** those questions!” Yang’s arms hung as she hunched over, glasses falling with disbelief.

“Oh my god… that’s a Nevermore…” The blonde murmured to herself. As the Nevermore circled around, Yang spotted something white hanging off the tail-end of the monstrous bird. Suddenly, it detached and fell with increasing speed… and there it was again - that gnat sound. Blake’s bow twitched again with annoyance. “Eeeew! It pooed!!!”

“…uuuuubyyyyy.” _Oh Remnant, why_. The black and yellow duo’s day was just getting better and better with each passing minute. Of course, the ill-mannered heiress would drop in. Ruby’s eyes bulged at the sight of Weiss and she disappeared in a flurry of rose petals, reappearing behind Yang and taking shelter from the frigid girl. Attempting to slow the rate of fall a bit, Weiss summoned a couple black glyphs that broke her speed as passed through them, with a single one marking her landing site on the ground. The closer she came to the ground, the bigger Yang’s smile grew until she turned around and began pawing at Ruby.

“Oh my god, oh my god! She’s **totally** gonna’ do the Super Hero Landing!” Looping an arm around Ruby’s neck and smashing their cheeks together, she pointed excitedly at the heiress. “Lunch on me says she **totally** does the Super Hero Landing!”

“But… you’re paying for lunch anyw-“

” **ROSE**!” Dust kicked up beneath the heiress as she landed heavily in a kneeling position and Yang threw both her arms in the air. Before locking her malicious sights on her partner, Weiss stood up and straightened her clothing out before marching toward her partner.

“Yes!!! Did you see that, Rubes?! That was **totally** the Super Hero Landing!!!” The blonde wiggled around excitedly and Blake shook her head. She grimaced and further resigned herself to the fact that this was fate’s way of punishing her for her past misdeeds, but then she remembered her uncomfortable talk with Ruby the night before and flashed a passive-aggressive smirk at the girl in red. Suddenly, Yang wasn’t such a horrible roommate, when compared to what Little Red was going to have to deal with.

“It would be a shame if the person that got her into that mess had to share a room with her!” Ruby paled at Blake’s sudden awareness of Ruby’s situation. There was definitely some spite from the night before… Touché…

 “How could you just leave me up there?!” Weiss grabbed Ruby by the collar and pulled her close, freezing when Yang grasped her wrist firmly. That had definitely sucked the light-hearted vibe out of the air.

“What the hell is your problem?” A dangerous look carved its way onto the blonde’s features, setting her eyes ablaze, and Weiss’ grip loosened as she was reminded of Ruby the day before.

“Yang, stop!” Ruby’s voice was cold and stern, betraying her sweet exterior. With a look, Yang locked eyes with her sister before dropping the heiress where she stood and shrugged. Snorting lightly with disapproval, the red-head refocused on Weiss. “I said ‘Jump’,” Ruby offered nervously. Another yell cut through the sky as Jaune flew across the tree tops, tangling himself in a bunch of branches. Forgetting the situation, Yang grinned at yet another opportunity.

“Barf boy!!!” The blonde waved widely at him. The boy sagged and waved back without looking up. “How’s it hangin’?” The boy sighed. He was quickly becoming a laughing stock throughout the day.

“Oh, you know. A little to the side – “

“Ew!”

“ **Of a tree**!!!” _Note to self, Jaune: Better word placement._

Behind Jaune, the loud cracking of branches resounded as the forest screamed. A large bone-plated black bear bucked into sight. With a mighty roar, it stood on its hind legs before toppling over, with a thin orange-haired girl rolling off its back.

“Awww, Ren, it broked!” A bubbly strawberry blonde pouted to a green-clad boy with a pink stripe in his otherwise short, black hair.

“uuaaah…. Haaah… Nora,” Ren gasped for air. “Let’s… **never** do that again!” He looked at the Ursa but found the hyperactive girl to be missing. At this rate, he was never going to be able to keep up with her. He found the girl looking through the remaining chess piece relics and trotted over to see that her selection was a rook.

“I’m queen of the castle! I’m queen of the castle!” Nora triumphantly sang. Bulged eyes followed her as she zipped over to Ren.

“Did they just ride in here on an Ursa?” Yang asked in disbelief. As if to add to the day’s oddities, Jaune’s gladiator partner dashed out from the woods on the other side, pursued by a giant bone-plated scorpion – a Death Stalker. The athletic superstar tucked and rolled as was needed to dodge swipes from its gigantic pincers and stabs from its lethal tail. “Oh, seriously! What! Does **everyone** **else** get a way more awesome introduction than us?!” Yang let out a scream of frustration and golden flames radiated from her body. Her once lilac eyes turned a dangerous hue of red and it was Game Time. “Rubes!”

“On it!” The red-clad girl leapt toward her sister, deploying Crescent Rose in mid-air. As Yang cocked her arm back, Ruby landed on her right gauntlet and used the combined momentum of Yang’s punch and shotgun blast to hit the scorpion hard enough to distract it from its current target. Avoiding a deadly sting, Ruby leapt away to regroup with Pyrrha.

“What are you doing?!” Weiss yelled. “We should run! Are you trying to die?!”

“I got this Weiss!” Ruby flashed a thumb up. “See ya’ soon!” She grabbed Pyrrha by the arm and activated her semblance, running the gladiator over to her partner and returning to Yang’s side.

“Hey, Renny, they’ve got this right?” Nora asked thoughtfully. “We should be okay to leave, right?”

“Are you crazy?!” The heiress screeched. “That Grimm easily outranks what we’re okayed to fight! We have to get them out of there!”

“As much as I don’t like it, I have to agree with Weiss,” Blake began. “It wouldn’t look good if we let our partners die this early...”

“ Partners?” Nora chuckled nervously. “As in, Ruby isn’t Yang’s partner?”

“The reckless dolt in red is my partner,” Weiss gritted her teeth as the words came out. “I’m not happy about it, but she’ll have to d-” Nora slammed her hands onto Weiss’ shoulders, startling her.

“I’m so sorry,” she said earnestly and spun around excitedly. “Did you hear that, Renny? I think we can stick around and – oh look!” **SCRAW!** The Nevermore returned, flapping its wings and sending razor sharp feathers speeding toward Ruby. An alarmed Ruby tried to jump out of the way, but a feather snagged her cape. Turning around, she tried to tug it loose, but the Deathstalker crept closer and reared its stinger. As the stinger came down, thick ice crystallized around it, catching it in its place. The scorpion struggled to get free, squirming and pulling with all its might.

“So, maybe I can be a bit bossy,” the heiress’ voice caused Ruby to spin around. “But you could try to show off a little less.”

“I’m not showing o-“

“ **And** ,” she emphasized, offering her hand. “I suppose I could work on it, if you will too.” Ruby pondered for a moment and decided the argument wasn’t worth it. Sighing, she nodded and took Weiss’ hand. As she felt herself being pulled up, something dark swooped in on Weiss and Ruby tackled her out of the way, in hopes of avoiding its claws. Holding onto Weiss, Ruby took the brunt of the force and both girls sailed into the forest.

“Ruby!” Yang watched as her sister disappeared into the forest with the heiress. A moment passed and there was no response – no movement. It felt like an eternity, but Yang was only brought back to reality when a ribbon wrapped around her and pulled her out of the way as a stinger barely missed her and buried itself in the ground. “Rubes!!!” The blonde tried to run toward the forest, but was stopped by the ribbon. “Let me go, Blake!”

“Yang, this is no time to fall apart! Ruby and Weiss can handle themselves.” She motioned to the two Grimm. “We need to take care of the Grimm, that way we can look for them safely!” Settling down, Yang turned serious and glared at the bird circling above them as it prepared for its next assault. The ribbon loosened and Blake approached the agitated blonde. “Everything will be oka- ah!” As Blake touched her shoulder, a flame licked out at her hand, dancing across her hand and vanishing. Everything around the blonde was sweltering with heat and Blake backed away as the air around the blonde warped with the searing heat. The Nevermore made eye contact with Yang and swooped down toward her.

“Yang, we need to move!” Blake dove away from where they both stood and looked back to try to make a plan, but Yang remained where she stood, challenging the Grimm. At that moment, Blake couldn’t tell which of the sister’s was the bigger idiot, but it was clear they were both reckless. She could only imagine what it would be like to have them both on a team together. Panicking, she threw Gambol Shroud at Yang in an attempt to snag her again, but the Nevermore reached her first. Its beak clamped down around the blonde and all went silent. “Yang!” Gunfire and explosions set off in the background around her, but she was too focused on the Nevermore to pay any attention to the other group of students that had taken on the task of distracting the Deathstalker.

Her partner had just been eaten.

**ooOOoo**

_Uuuugh. Everything hurts…_ Weiss hissed in pain as she tried to move, but everything ached. That Nevermore had certainly hit her hard, but Ruby had taken the brunt of the hit… Ruby! Her eyes snapped open and she instantly froze at what she saw. What the hell was it?!

Kneeling over her was something humanoid, but definitely inhuman. It almost seemed like a Grimm, but it lacked the iconic bone mask and red eyes most of the species were known for. Instead, its sockets and jagged grin were hollow, illuminated by a glow that dwelled somewhere deep at its center. Its appearance was that of scraggly darkness, almost as if it were covered in a tattered sheet, with long ears that protruded back, like a wolf… It reached out with an oversized, clawed hand to caress her cheek and she gasped at the icy touch that, too cold even for her. Recoiling as if its feelings were hurt, it looked at its hand and then back to her, backing away in shame.

“Wh-what are you?” It looked back at her and whimpered. Motioning as if it wanted to speak, she noticed the claw shrink to a more human size, though it kept its claw-like appearance.

“Urrrra-ck.” It sagged in defeat at its inability to communicate with her. A twig snapped, putting both the heiress and the creature on high alert, but nothing came.

“It’s fine… Did you see a girl in red come through here? I can’t believe she would ditch me!” The creature shook its head as if to say to no. “Holy Dust! You understand me?” It nodded and gave her a thumb up, favoring its right side toward her. “Are you Grimm?” The creature pondered for a before giving a shrug. It didn’t seem to know what a Grimm was. For all it knew, it could have been, despite its friendly nature. A flock of birds scattered from the trees and the creature appeared worried. Enlarging its claw again, it growled at the empty forest ahead of it and an Ursa Major charged toward them. Leaping toward Weiss, the creature latched onto her with its claw and ran up a tree trunk, using the momentum to toss her into the air. Just what the hell had happened?!

As she reached her peak height in the air and began her descent, the Nevermore that had been terrorizing everyone flew toward her, jaw wide open. For the love of Dust, she’d had more than enough of this shit today! Readying her rapier, Myrtenaster, she produced a flame to ward it off and it flew past her. A body collided with her and held onto her tightly and Weiss suddenly became aware of Yang’s ninja-like partner, dangling from the neck of the bird.

“How?” Blake motioned to the vast airscape.

“It’s a long story… You wouldn’t even believe me if I tried.”

“Story for later?” Weiss nodded. “Where’s Ruby?”

“I- I don’t know…”The heiress lamented.

“You lost your partner?!”

“Well, where’s Yang at?!” A long silence ensued and Blake looked down in shame.

“It… ate her…” She looked up to meet the heiress’ eyes and they stared at each other for a moment.

“You let your partner get eaten?!” Weiss shrieked. “I lost mine; she’s not dead!... Oh, my Dust!” A cliff was fast approaching and it was clear the Nevermore intended to ram them into it. Thinking quickly, Blake detached them from the giant bird and they tumbled to the ground.

 “Hey! I didn’t let her get eaten! She stood there when I told her to move!” Perching itself on the cliff, the bird began to gag and fight to keep its beak shut. A grunt sound could be heard from within and the two girls exchanged looks with one another. “Looks like she’s not done yet. Give me a boost?” The beak began to glow red hot and a shotgun blast burst through the bottom of its beak, with Yang falling through, latched onto its thin tongue and looking around for an escape. “Yang!” Jumping onto a glyph set by Weiss, Blake called to the blonde and tossed Gambol Shroud her way. Thankful for the rescue, Yang caught the tether and let go of the bird’s tongue, swinging back to safety. Rolling across the ground, Yang tumbled into a standing position and used her right foot to pivot herself around as she skidded to a stop.

“Hey, Blakey! Ya’ miss me?”

“Could you not call me weird things?” Blake growled at her new partner. “I don’t even know you that well!”

“But you will!” The blonde winked and aimed finger guns at her. “So the heiress is safe and sound. Where’s my sister?” She narrowed her eyes at the girl in white. “Weiss?”

“I don’t know!” That didn’t sit well with the older sister. “We got knocked into the woods. When I came to, she wasn’t anywhere to be found. She probably got knocked further in or left me behind.”

“Huuu,” Yang cleared her mouth of excess liquid. “Karma’s a bitch, huh?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Did I say something?” The blonde cocked her head dangerously. “But seriously, you’re here and not looking for her. That’s pretty shitty, even for a Schnee.”

“Ugh! When I woke up there was this odd Grimm and I didn’t see her anywhere around, but several Grimm ambushed me and the weird one threw me into the air,” Weiss tried to explain. “I’m not sure if it was attacking me, but it seemed like it was trying to help.”

“A Grimm that’s helping humans?” Blake asked with disbelief. “There’s no way.” **SCRAW!** “Are you serious?! It’s still alive?!”

“What did it look like?” The hot-headed brawler had a dead serious tone to her voice. **SCRAW!**

“Yang, this is hardly the time! The Never-“

“ **What** ,” the blonde’s eyes glowed red with her anger as she emphasized the first word. “Did it look like?!”

“… It was like a human… with no bone plating…” Yang’s eyes faded back to their usual lilac color and she pressed her lips together in thought.

“I see…”

“Yang!” The heiress’ eyes widened as she shouted out the blonde’s name. Yang turned around to the sight of the Nevermore swooping down on her. Punching her fists together, she activated her semblance and a loud hiss of pain came from behind her. Her eyes widened and her flames died out. Shit! This would be so much easier if she only had to worry about Rubes. Rubes was used to the heat… Yeah… The heat… “Move your ass!” Weiss blew her away with a glyph, but was unable to move in time.

The Nevermore drew closer and Weiss closed her eyes as she anticipated her own death, but instead a wrapping sound was all she heard. She opened her eyes to find the bird being jerked away from her with impeccable timing. Somehow, Blake had managed to hook Gambol Shroud through the hole Yang had previously blown through the bottom of the bird’s beak. She’d have to remember to thank her later… No matter how hostile they had been toward each other the previous day. The weapon detached from the bird and recoiled back into the raveness’ hands.

“Be careful! I’d rather not see anyone else die!” Blake scolded from afar. “That includes you!” The Nevermore began to rise once more and flapped its wings, sending a flurry of sharpened feathers flying toward the girls. Between blades and shotgun blasts, they managed to deflect several, but one too many had headed in the white-clad girl’s direction. Unable to move in time, she prepared herself for the worst, but the feather was met with a loud clang. A red blur appeared in front of her, running up the firm feather and charging the bird. A familiar hook-like blade snagged the under-side of the bird’s beak and it was sent barreling into the side of the cliff in front of them.

“You guys picked one heck of a place to play Castle!”

“Rubes!” The older sister squealed with joy. “You made it!” She ran to hug her, but Ruby placed a hand out to halt her. “Stop. Time for that later!” The crimson girl grinned, but a loud explosion coming from behind them caught her attention. The stone bridge she had crossed to get here was collapsing, no thanks to the trigger happy girl, Nora. A grenade launcher was the last thing she needed in that giant hammer. She shuddered as she remembered when the girl had first built her weapon and decided she wanted to combine the mechanics of a grenade launcher and a gatling gun. That had been a terrifying day for all of Patch’s orphans. She watched as the insane girl used the explosives to launch herself across a large gap from an upturned chunk of the falling bridge. “Actually, I have an idea… and it needs a lot of glyphs…”

**ooOOoo**

The graying headmaster looked on as he watched the last four pairs of students dispatch two mid-classed Grimm. While he showed no surprise, his assistant stood baffled at the idea that they had come out relatively unscathed. In one panel, the Death Stalker fell into a seemingly endless canyon. In the other, pale blue glyphs trailed up a cliffside and a young scythe-wielder caught a Nevermore in the momentum at which she had been launched. Reaching the top, it was beheaded and the body doomed to the Death Stalker’s fate. As she peered out at her friends, her cape was caught in the wind and her semblance’s telltale petals fluttered away.  
  
“Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc…” Ozpin’s musings earned a grimace from Glynda. “This should be a most interesting year.”

 


	3. Arrival III

 

“Miss Schnee, I understand that you saw something strange in the woods?” A stern female voice awaited an answer.

“I did, Miss Goodwitch,” the heiress replied, standing at attention. “It was a strange human-like Grimm.” Ruby and Ren’s eyes both grew and immediately shot toward Nora. The girl shook at the vague description and Ren tried to comfort her.

“Nora, are you-“

“I would like to move for both Miss Valkyrie and Lie Ren to be excused.”

“Miss Rose,” the older woman hissed sharply. “You would do well not to speak out of turn! They will be dismissed wh-“. Ozpin raised his hand, quieting his long-time friend and assistant.

“Is there a reason, Miss Rose?” He made a mental note of Nora’s state.

“The most pertinent reason is that neither were anywhere close to Weiss’ position after the Nevermore sent us into the forest. They remained in combat near Blake and Yang, sir.”

“The most pertinent?” His voice was filled with intrigue. He motioned to the two in question and smiled warmly. “You may both feel free to stand outside, if you wish.” Bowing in thanks, Ren placed an arm around her shoulders and escorted Nora out of the room. After the doors shut, the headmaster turned to look at Ruby. “Miss Rose, can you explain? Miss Valkyrie’s behavior was quite strange. You alluded that there are multiple reasons?”

“Several years ago, an incident was reported where Nora and Ren both encountered a creature similar to what Weiss described. Several local huntsman reported a sighting in the woods near Patch, as well as several sightings across Remnant. Ren…” Ruby paused to search for the appropriate words. “Handles himself much better than Nora.”

“You are familiar with the two of them, then?”

“They lived in Patch for a bit, yes.” Ruby answered plainly.

“You seem to know the conditions of Miss Valkyrie’s case. It may be in our best interest that someone familiar be placed on her team.”

“What! Hell no!” Yang shouted and stepped forward. “That isn-“Ruby lifted her left arm toward Yang, silencing her.

“Yang!” The blonde focused on the gloved hand. For a moment, there was a shimmer of sadness before she averted her eyes and fell back in line. “Please? Not today,” Ruby said exhaustedly. The headmaster chuckled to himself as he flipped through a file, drawing the students’ attention. “Sir?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, really,” he smiled fondly to himself. “I was simply reminded of a team that stood before me so many years ago.” His eyes connected deeply with the red-clad girl. “You and Miss Xiao Long have a great legacy to uphold and I see that you both have been busy enough proving yourself on your own. I look very much forward to the great things that I’m sure you will accomplish together, but I also hope that you will be able to free yourself more quickly than Summer did. I had never seen her so human as when the two of you came into the picture… Which is why I wonder, do you have something for me, Miss Rose?” Stepping back, Ruby grabbed her left arm and gritted her teeth.

“No…” Suddenly, she found the headmaster to be fairly unnerving. It was almost as if he knew everything. There was so much that she had worked to keep secret.

“Pity,” he frowned. “Well, maybe you will come to trust me with it one of these days. Either way, I will be needing to speak with you at a later time in regard to yours and Miss Xiao Long’s tuitions, Miss Rose. There was a rather… intriguing note left on the paperwork, courtesy of someone I am interested in how you are connected with, but alas, it will have to be pushed back to a later time.” Yang opened her mouth to raise question, but again, she was cut off. “Back to the subject at hand. Miss Schnee, you said you saw this strange Grimm?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure it was a Grimm?” Glynda urged. “It is possible that it could have been an illusion of some sort.”

“Yes, Miss Goodwitch, there’s no mistaking it.” Weiss spoke, very certain of herself. “What I saw was definitely a Grimm.”

“It is certainly very strange to come across a non-aggressive breed of Grimm, let alone one that exhibits reasoning.” Ozpin looked down the line of students. “Did anyone else see this Grimm?” The students looked amongst each other, murmuring that no one had seen it, though Blake caught her partner giving a serious look to her sister. Clearly, Yang was hiding something. She recalled Yang’s odd behavior when Weiss had brought it up during the fight. They both obviously knew what was out there, but it seemed liked they were purposely withholding information on the creature… why???

“Miss Schnee, I understand that you are from Atlas?” Glynda stated, more than asked, and Weiss nodded. “Then it should come as no surprise that Vale has native Grimm that you have not seen before. It’s possible that this is what you saw and misidentified it.”

“Miss Goodwitch, are you suggesting that I didn’t take time to learn about the Grimm here?!” The Schnee was offended to say the least. “I know what I saw: a maskless, black creature that resembled a human and a beowolf! It was lit up from the inside by something that felt like a human aura. It even acted human; like it was trying to speak to me! It got frustrated with itself when I couldn’t understand what it was trying to say, like I was talking to someone who speaks a different language!”

“Now, **that** it certainly interesting.” The headmaster mused aloud. “What do you make of that, Glynda?”

“Could it have been a student’s semblance? Shadow cloning, maybe?” Glynda suggested to him. “The frustration could have been that they haven’t mastered communication through an imperfect apparition?”

“Hmmm,” the headmaster thought for a moment. “It’s not out of the realm of possibility, though this would have stuck out among the transcripts. I do not recall a semblance of this nature, but if mastered correctly, there are those who could pull it off. There are certainly a few students who have yet to discover their semblances, as well. We shall have to see!” The older man looked up with gusto. “For the time being, we will keep a close watch for this odd Grimm, be it student or not, and restrict access to the forest until it has been deemed safe.” He looked over the students with an eager smile. “We still have the opening ceremony and team sorting to get through! I’m sure you would all like to get acclimated to your new surroundings and see your dorms! I will see you shortly in the auditorium! You are dismissed!”

The students shuffled out of the office one-by-one, with Blake being the first out. Determined to catch Yang, she leaned against the wall and waited for her partner. As the others passed, she caught a quiet but brief exchange between Ozpin, Ruby, and Yang… Something about accommodations to their liking, then handing them what looked like two keycards. What could that have meant? As Ruby passed by Blake, their eyes locked. Despite the harmless look, a chill ran up her spine as the metallic pools reminded her of just how quickly she could shift from a warm, liquid mercury to a cold serrated steel. Snapping her attention from the crimson-coalette, Yang burst through the door and pounced her sister, leaning onto her with her arms wrapped around her shoulders from behind.

“Yang, can-“

“Baby sis!” Yang cut off Blake and regarded her sister with an irritated tone. “Let’s have a chat!”

“Ugh! Now?! Uwoooah!” The red-clad girl was lifted from her feet by the shoulders. “What the hell, Yang!”

“Time to lay some ground rules!” Faking an irritated smile, she faced their monochrome counterparts. “I’m borrowing her for a few minutes! We’ll catch you at the ceremony! Rubes and I have **so much** to talk about!” Her smile warped into a glare and Ruby whimpered. “Right?”

“… Yes…” The younger girl looked like a kicked puppy as she was dragged helplessly away.

“What do you think that was about?” Weiss asked as Goodwitch sped past them.

“I’m not sure, but Yang’s been acting really odd since you mentioned that Grimm.” Blake brainstormed out loud. “Maybe they know something about them? Grimm that mimic humans?”

“Ren and Nora seem to have grown up around them. Maybe they know something?” The heiress motioned for her to follow and they hurried to catch up to the pair. “Ren! Nora!” Weiss flagged them down.

“Weiss!!!” The bubbly girl shouted excitedly.

“Nora, we wanted to talk to you about Ruby and Yang,” Blake cut to the chase and the strawberry blonde’s eyes widened.

“Never!” She declared in an over-exaggerated manner and hid behind Ren, who sighed. “Don’t try to sweet-talk us! We’re not trading partners! Renny and I have always been together! Together forever!...” Realizing what she said, Nora blushed and began to twiddle her thumbs. “Well, not together-together, but together and –“

“Oh, shush! We couldn’t trade even if we wanted to!” Weiss stopped Nora’s rambling. “Partnerships have already been determined. We’re just waiting on teams-“

“Oh, that’s easy for you guys! You four are totally on a team together!” Nora said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Ooo! Renny, what do you think their team name will be? Let’s see…” She eyed Blake and Weiss for a moment and counted off the letters on her fingers. “W-B…then there’s Y-R… It’s gotta’ be WBYR cause they have an uber unfair advantage!” The excited girl burst into a laughing fit.

“You don’t know that,” Weiss fought back in her flustered state. “Nothing’s been announced!”

“Nora, be nice,” Ren said with a stern tone. “Besides, _uber_ isn’t a color and teams are named according to color.”

“Doesn’t have to be! Besides, their names don’t make any sense! How do you make a color out of R, B, W, and Y?!”

“Again, you’re assuming we’re a team! Nothing,” Weiss emphasized. “Has been announced!”

“Just like Renny and I, Ruby and Yang never get split up, duh!” Nora said as if it were the most common sense thing. “It just doesn’t happen!... Which is why I was confused about Ruby splitting off from Yang and Yang’s weird launch.” This comment actually got a reaction out of Nora’s normally calm partner.

“What do you mean?” Ren inquired; his interest now piqued.

“You didn’t see?” He shook his head in response. “Oh wow, well… I know we got launched before them, but Yang was yelling at Ruby in the air. It was something like ‘How the *beep* are you gonna’ change last *beeping* minute!!!!’ but with a lot more colorful and imaginative words! That and she took a minute to get herself straightened out in the air! But… I think Ruby’s like super psychic or super prepared. Anyone else notice she knew where everyone was and found her way around without a map?”

 “… But that would mean that Ruby already knew what the Initiation for this year was…” Ren mused to himself. “Which is more likely than the alternative of her memorizing the entire map last night without even knowing where Initiation was going to take pla… and now that I think about it, both of those scenarios aren’t entirely out of the question for her.”

“That’s impossible! We couldn’t even find that out!” Weiss found the entire thing to be utterly impossible. “You’re telling me that a single girl from an island could get into Beacon’s database, but the SDC couldn’t procure that same information?!”

“As much as it pains me, I’d have to agree with Weiss on this one.” Blake added, earning and offended ‘Hey!’ from the heiress. “That idea seems a bit far-fetched. I’ll admit that Ruby is a quick thinker and has some… abstract ideas, but she’s too clumsy. I’d say she has a lot of luck, but I also feel like there’s something not quite right with her.”

“Oh… um… Renny?” Nora asked hesitantly. Her partner shook his head, turning down her request.

“That’s a story best left for them to tell, Nora.”

“Oh…” The fiery-headed girl looked down sadly. “Ah! We’re here! And there’s Yang!... Yaaang!” Nora began to wave her arms around wildly as they walked through the doors to the auditorium. Scanning the sea of new students, Weiss searched for the tell-tale wavy blonde hair of the older sister. Eventually, she found it scolding a familiar red-clad girl.

“I’m just saying; a little heads up next time would be appreciated.” Yang said through gritted teeth. “Blake’s cool, and I realize it’s not as bad for you, but I need you, Rubes. What if we’re not on the same team?!”

“Relax or you’re gonna’ have a panic attack. Everything’s fine.” Ruby smiled. “You’ll see!”

“Fine?!” Her lilac eyes turned a deep red. “You left me for a Schnee,” Yang growled. “The fuck is wrong with y- oh, hi guys!” Her eyes returned to their normal color and she laughed nervously, hoping nothing was overheard.

“Excuse me?! Is there something wrong with my being a Schnee?”

“Uh-oh,” Nora yipped. “Renny! Mayday! Let’s find Jaune and Pyrrha!” She took off with her partner, leaving Blake to watch her partner go to war with Ruby’s. At least it seemed that she and Yang could agree on one thing: the Schnee family was bad news.

“Let’s see, it would probably be easier to list what’s not wrong with you people… Hmmm, nothing! There is nothing that isn’t wrong with all of you.”

“Yang…” The joyous façade Ruby tried to keep up disappeared and her tone was expressionless and finite. “While I’m sure that Weiss has her own faults, I don’t believe she’ll be like the others. Weiss has potential! Right, Weiss?” Suddenly, Ruby was cheerful and spunky again, leaving a confused sister behind. Over the loud speaker, Ozpin called the name of four boys to be known as Team CRDL.

“But-“

“Weiss! I couldn’t help but notice you have a MADR! Can I see it?” Ruby changed the subject and grinned widely. “Can I? Can I?”

“Um, why?” The drastic changes of her partner’s personality left her brain on stun.

“Well,” Ruby blushed with embarrassment. “I’m kind of a weapons geek and I thought it was really cool.” Weiss brought her rapier up for Ruby to see. At that point, Ruby began to twist and contort herself into very odd positions to get a closer look.

“Um, Rubes, why don’t you just ask if you can hold it?” Yang wondered, cringing every time her sister moved. “It’s not coated in poison and watching you is hurting me.”

“A weapon is an extension of your soul, Yang! You don’t just ask someone for a part of their soul! It’s a piece of them!” Ruby looked absolutely horrified at the idea of the gesture. “You don’t just give a piece of yourself away!”

“Look, dolt, you can hold it.” The heiress let out an aggravated sigh. How on Remnant did she wind up with this sort of partner? “Just be careful. And yes, before you ask, it’s made from Atlesian titanium alloy.”

“Oh man! This is so exciting!” Ruby held the rapier upright, imitating Weiss’ stance perfectly. Weiss made a note that Ruby must have had some sort of training with the weapon before. “She’s so light that she almost seems fragile, but she’s definitely sturdy!” She tapped the blade to the ground to get a feel for how the vibrations traveled through the blade and smiled with satisfaction. Bringing it up once more, she spun the cylinder and listened as it clicked into place. “Deadly, efficient, elegant, and something else underneath – I’d say she mirrors you perfectly, Weiss! What’s her name?”

“Uhhh…” It was probably the most intelligent thing Weiss could think of in that moment. She was somewhere between trying to figure out if Ruby was hitting on her or her weapon. Either way, she admired the passion with which she assessed the rapier. “Myr – ahem – Myrtenaster. Her name is Myrtenaster…” Did weapons even have genders? Oh no… Her partner was one of **those** enthusiasts!

“Well, Weiss! If you ever need any help with her, you can ask me! I helped out with the maintenance in the Patch Hunter’s Hall. A lot of the hunter’s even preferred me to our local weaponsmith.”

“Are you suggesting I don’t know how to work on my weapon?”

“Well no, it’s just that, people who make their own weapons brag about its intricacies, not the metal used to craft it.” She twiddled her fingers. “So I thought maybe you might not know that the dust canister isn’t set properly, so your guy was a bit sloppy when he put it back together. I can help you with that, by the way.” Weiss began to turn red with anger. “Ah, I’m – I’m not bashing you, Weiss. It’s just these are super expensive to maintain and I’d hate for you to waste money on repairs that can be avoided! I don’t care how much money you have! I just want my team to be at its best at all times...” Mytenaster still in hand, Ruby clapped her hands together in front of her face and shut her eyes. “Please don’t be mad.”

For a moment, Weiss shut her eyes and took a deep breath. She couldn’t afford another public outburst. _Relax! She’s thinking about team dynamic and that’s what’s important._ Weiss exhaled. _As the leader,_ _I’ll have the final say on everything anyway and her hobby could prove useful._

“Thank you, Ruby,” she smiled, trying to hide her resentment. “I’d appreciate that very much.” _Almost as much as a hole in my head._

“Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR. Lead by Jaune Arc.” Weiss’ eyes shot up as she heard the names called and paled. She felt the world spin around and she found Blake standing next to her in an equal stupor. That meant… As Team  JNPR left the stage, Nora pointed finger guns at Blake and yelled to her.

“Called it!” _God… dammit…_

“And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long.” The four girls began their trek onto the stage, with the black and white duo in a dazed state of shock. This was their life for the next four years. Three people, primarily their respective partners, that terrified each girl. “The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Lead by Ruby Rose.” What! Weiss stood in shock. How could he have not picked her?!

“Ooooh, Rubes! I had faith in us!” Yang scooped Ruby up into a bear hug and flailed her around. “I was so worried that fate would be against us!...” Suddenly, Yang’s stomach growled loudly and she recalled that she hadn’t eaten all day. Then another realization hit her and her eyes widened. “Hey!” She started to shake Ruby. “You do realize if we hadn’t been on the same team, you have all our money! How the hell was I supposed to eat?!”

“Uwwwaaaaah-oooah! Yu-ang! Stop!” Ruby’s feet finally touched the ground and she took a moment to regain her bearings. “Look, I put in a lot of work to get into Beacon at the same time as you! Did you really think I’d let us get separated? Ironically, Ozpin gave us the same test that Dad told us about when he and Mom went to Beacon. I just made sure we took the same piece you picked.”

“You actually pay attention to Dad’s stories???”

“…You pay attention to his jokes…”

“Yay, for Dad’s stories!” Yang moved past the subject. “Let’s get some food before Nora takes over the lunchroom!” She threw Ruby in a headlock and made a dash for the dining hall.

“Wow…”Blake was left speechless, along with Weiss. “Should we… join them?”

“… I suppose… I **am** a bit hungry…”

**ooOOoo**

“So, Yang, rut may joo wanna come d’Beckon?” Weiss made a disgusted face as little bits of bread sprayed from Jaune mouth as he spoke with his mouth full. He swallowed hard and spoke more clearly. “I think it’s kinda’ cool to share our reasons for coming here!”

“Oh, well, I’m looking…” She hesitated for a moment and looked to Ruby. “For someone… I thought maybe I could find something – I dunno’ maybe a clue… Just to get a little closer to her… To maybe understand why…” Ruby looked down in thought.

“There’s always a reason things happen, Yang. I’m sure you’ll find answers along the way.”

“You really think so, Rubes?” A twinkle of hope glinted in Yang’s eyes.

“I know so,” Ruby gave her a big thumb up. “And I’ll be there every step of the way, whether ya’ want me around or not!”

“Not like a have a choice,” Yang laughed and rubbed her head. “Couldn’t get rid of you if I tried.”

“Waaaait, weren’t you the one freaking out about the chance of not being on the same team?” Nora offered a friendly reminder.

“Meh,” Yang waved it off. “That’s in the past! We’re living in the _now_!” She eyed Weiss menacingly. “How about you, Snow Princess? Why’re you here?”

“I have a name,” Weiss hissed. “It’s Weiss, in case you forgot, and if you must know, I’m here to restore my family’s name. My father has done nothing but run it through the dirt and I intend to fix that!”

“It’s been a lot longer than your father, Schnee. It’s been generations.”

“Okay, seriously! What have I done to you?” Weiss stood up, positioning herself to look down on Yang. “You’ve been nothing but hostile toward me and don’t think I didn’t hear you scolding Ruby about being my partner. Is that it? Because we’re partners and you didn’t get your way?”

“Don’t flatter yourself, princess.” Crossing her arms, Yang spoke calmly. “My problems with you run a lot deeper than that.”

“Then tell me what it is so I can at least make sense of this!”

 “Nah,” Yang grinned menacingly. “This is much more fun.”

“Ugh, Yang, stop torturing Weiss! Do we really need a time out corner in Beacon?” Ruby groaned. “Don’t make me call Uncle Qrow.”

“You wouldn’t…”

“I would…” They glared at each other.

“Having settled the dispute, the two sisters stared longingly into each other’s eyes.” Nora leaned into Yang’s ear and whispered loudly, making an attempt at narrating their stalemate… At least, that’s what everyone thought, until her story took a turn for the worst. “That was when Ruby noticed Yang’s supple lips and perky, buxom brea- mmmmfgh!”

“That’s enough, Nora,” a blushing Ren, covered her mouth, saving the rest of the table from an embarrassing story at the sisters’ expense. Beads of sweat dripping down her face, Yang drummed her fingers on the table.

“Soooo, that happened… Uh, Blakey?...” She waved a hand in front of her partner’s face, but there was no response. “Blakey, did you die? Guys, I think she died. She gets mad when I call her Blakey… Blakey?” The dark girl’s face flushed a bright red and suddenly blood shot from her nose and she fell backwards. “Um, Nora… I think you broke her.”

“Oh, my Dust! Blake actually died!” Jaune shrieked. “Oh Remnant, I’m an accessory to murder. I’m Nora’s team leader and she killed someone and I was here and I saw it…. I allowed it to happen! Oh, Dust!!!”

“Jaune, calm down,” Pyrrha placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and Blake began to crawl back into her seat.

“I’m… fine…” Head down in shame, Blake reached for a napkin but she never found the paper-textured item. She looked up in surprise and found that it was missing, but instead, a napkin was offered from across the table. Looking at the owner, she found Yang sincerely offering it to her. Hesitantly, she reached for it and quickly brought it to her nose.

“So, you’re a dirty girl, eh?” Oh no… It started. One of Blake’s well-kept secrets had been discovered. “Oh, I’m totally gonna’ have fun with this.”

“Yang, I know I said to be nice to Weiss, but don’t pick on Blake either!”

“No can do, Rubes! Can’t let ya’ take all my fun away!” And with that, Blake was left with only one thought.

_Remnant, help me!_

 


	4. Partners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh jeez! I am SO SORRY for this wait! It's a longer chapter than most of what I write and I had a hard time splitting it up lol. Anyway, I'm glad to see so many people on both AO3 and FF requesting more. I am SUPER late with getting this to AO3 (I honestly thought I had but APPARENTLY that was Lightforge and not this one.). I wrote about six chapters ahead into this story and I've just been horrible at updating. Don't hate me too much! there is definitely more!

“Soooooo, were you afraid of it?”

“What are you talking about?... Ruby will you please get out of my face! Personal space exists for a reason!” Weiss scolded her… partner. She refused to call her “her leader” when this child had done nothing more than show her just that – she was a child. Ugh, with Yang currently out of the room stalking Blake, there was no one to preoccupy Ruby and every day had started off with the same question that Weiss tried so hard to ignore.

“The Grimm you saw,” Ruby said excitedly, hanging from the half-assed death trap she called a “bunk bed” that was poorly suspended by rope above Weiss’ own sleeping quarters. “Were you afraid?”

“You believe me?” Ruby nodded quickly in a silly manner. “Well… no, I can’t say that I was. Well, not in the traditional sense. Not like a regular Grimm. It didn’t feel dark, at all. It felt… familiar… Like I’ve seen it before, but I don’t know where.” The heiress said thoughtfully.

“People have been reporting them for ages on all continents, but no one has ever caught one. They aren’t like normal Grimm, though. They’re actually classified as a non-aggressive species, which also causes argument for whether or not they are actually Grimm. I’ve heard that they’re an omen of some sort.”

“Are they?”

“Who knows?” Ruby turned around and suspended herself lazily from her top bunk. “All I know is that they appear and disappear at random, but opposed to Grimm who feed on negativity, sightings of them increase drastically when Remnant’s energy changes in an area… But, like Miss Goodwitch said, for all we know, it could be a semblance. An inherited one, like your glyphs, right?” Alarmed, Weiss gave her a skeptical look.

“Why do you know that?”

“Silly, I’m supposed to know my teammates’ semblances!” Ruby teased. “You used them during Initiation, remember?”

“Not that, you dolt! That my semblance is inherited!”

“… I thought it was rather obvious. All combat savvy Schnees have mastery over glyphs.” Ruby looked up and poked into her lip as she mused to herself. “You guys have two-part semblances that are really cool! You don’t know how excited I am to get to see it in person!” Flattered by Ruby’s excitement, Weiss blushed and averted her eyes from the exuberant girl, but then she felt a dagger go straight through her heart. “The glyphs are super awesome and useful, but I can’t wait to see the summons! I always heard they were awesome! How do they work again???”

“I…” Weiss’ eyes grew dark and she suddenly felt like she was being swallowed from within. Tragedy had unlocked her semblance, but she had yet to gain mastery over its more intricate parts. “Dolt!” The door swung open and slammed quickly, with the heiress leaving behind a very confused Ruby… Soooo, Weiss didn’t like **praise**?!

**ooOOoo**

“Blaaaaakey!” The blonde searched high and low for her raven-haired partner. Since Initiation, she had learned that the kitty liked to seclude herself in hard-to-find spaces, usually any combination of small, secluded, and up high. At first, the loner had returned to the room where they had bunked the first night. When Yang had hunted her down for some “hang time”, she ran off to the library, thinking that the blonde wouldn’t dare disturb the sanctity of such a quiet place… Oh, how wrong she had been!

Today, the boisterous girl had returned to the library, in hopes that her partner had also returned. Unfortunately, this was not the case… or the next case… or the case after that… How many bookcases had she passed??? The blonde hoisted herself on top of one of the cases and peered around her, but no such luck! Blake wasn’t even hiding on top of them! So aggravating!

“Miss! Please down from there before you hurt yourself!” An elderly woman called to her. Oh, it was the librarian that had kicked out for being too loud yesterday. Geez, did this lady have tracking device on her??? Or was it because she was the only one acting like a fool!.... Psh, naaaaaah! Just then, she caught the leaves in a tree outside the library rustling and she could make out the silhouette of her partner. She looked so serene sitting there on that lone branch, engrossed in her book, and Yang lost herself in the moment… So peaceful. “Miss!!! Please!!!” Ah! She should hop down! As she moved to drop down, she caught wind of a bunch of snickers coming from the tables in the center of the library.

“Please, stop!” A timid bunny girl huddled into herself, shaking to her core, as four thug-looking boys hovered over her. The tallest boy, with short light brown hair slicked back and blue eyes, pulled at her ears and she winced in pain. “Let go!”

“Why would I do that, you pesky little freak? Seriously, the least you could do is clip these eyesores!” The boy snickered, giving a hard tug and causing her to cry out. “Stop pretending you’re in pain! Everyone knows you animals are nothing like u-oof!” A heavy book slammed into his face and knocked him away from the Faunus and she took the opportunity to flee.

“Hey! Leave her alone!” Yang dropped down and shouted at the boys. “She’s done nothing to you!”

“Miss! This is the last straw! Climbing bookshelves, throwing books, and now loud outbursts! You need to le-”

“Can it, lady!” Yang barked back. “Can’t you see there are more important things, right now?!”

“What the hell, you bimbo!” The bully yelled back at her, holding his face. “You’re gonna’ pay for that! Let’s get her!” The four boys ran at Yang, who swiftly dodged them and they tumbled into the other tables, tripping over themselves and crashing loudly. Seeing her damsel-in-distress flee from the library, Yang quickly snatched up the book and bag she had left behind and ran after her.

**ooOOoo**

 It’s so peaceful out here, Blake thought to herself as the wind blew through the trees. She had spent most of the last few days trying to find a spot where the blonde wouldn’t find her. Was it so much to ask for some space? She was cramped into a room with three other girls, for Remnant’s sake! Of course, she needed some space! She was used to being a loner! The Faunus girl flipped the page of her book and immersed herself in the disturbing elements of this story.

Suddenly, she heard some commotion from inside the library and shuddered remember how loud Yang had been yesterday as she whined for Blake to find something for her to do. Apparently, Ruby hadn’t wanted to fool around and had told the blonde to make an attempt at bonding with her partner. Of course, she had pawned her off on Blake. In the distance, she spotted a rabbit Faunus fleeing in terror and wheezing loudly. Whatever was going on had terrified the poor girl.

At first, Blake thought she might take a look, but then she froze when the aforementioned blonde came running out after her… Greeeeat… This explained everything. Blake sighed and sat back against the tree once more. Nope! Not today!

“Hey!” The blonde shouted! “Hey! Bunny girl!” That was downright derogatory! Blake  looked up from her book to witness the blonde chasing down the rabbit. Oh no… Why! They were coming this way! Yang would see her… Maybe if she just stayed still, she’d blend in with the trees and the irrational blonde wouldn’t notice. Finally, the bunny girl stopped running and hunched over, catching her breath.

“W-what!” The girl was extremely upset and tears were in her eyes. “Are you going to make fun of me too?!” At this accusation, Blake glared at the blonde and moved to make a stand, but the blonde shook her head.

“Wait, wait, wait! You’ve got it wrong!” Yang held up the bag she had snagged on her way out. “I just… I don’t what else to call you, yet! We haven’t been introduced, but here! I put everything inside. You left these behind and I didn’t want those guys to mess your stuff up!” The girl’s eyes opened in surprise as she accepted her items. “You don’t deserve to be treated like that just because you’re a Faunus! Humans, Faunus – bah!” The blonde waved it off. “We’re all people where I come from…”

“You mean, you don’t care about what I am?” The girl asked timidly.

“Why would I?” Yang laughed. “It seems kinda’ dumb to me! Especially with ears as cute as yours! Hahaha!” The blonde let out the most try-hard laugh the girl had ever heard and she laughed along with her, freezing after a few moments. The blonde thought they were cute??? Flustered, she turned completely red and pulled her ears down to hide behind that. “Hey now! Don’t hide, bunbun!”

“No one’s ever called them cute before!”

“Psssh! You kidding?!” Yang waved it off. “The ears just add to your charm! Anyone who thinks otherwise just sucks! Come tell me and I’ll chase them off too!” Yang flexed and roared at nothing, earning laughter from the girl. The jokester looked at her from over her shoulder and smiled before facing the girl again and holding her hand out. “I’m Yang Xiao Long, by the way! First year – Team RWBY! Come find me if those jerks start picking on you again and don’t ever let anyone tell you to clip your ears!” Taking Yang’s hand, the bunny smiled gratefully.

“Velvet Scarlatina – Team CVFY. Year 2.” Velvet jumped as Yang’s free hand crushed her hand in a two-handed shake, leaving her speechless. Yang was incredibly rowdy.

“Well, it’s awesome to meet you, Velvet!” The blonde virtually bounced with excitement. “Maybe next time you can meet my team! I’m always telling Rubes that she needs more friends and I think you two would get along great! You’d probably like Blakey, too!” Blake grimaced at the nickname. Of course, she would call her that when she wasn’t around too.

“Ah! My team!” Velvet looked past Yang and yanked her arm away from the blonde to wave at them. “I was supposed to be studying ‘til they came to get me!” She told Yang. “It was really nice to meet you, Yang, but I have to meet up with them now!”

“Totally understandable! I’m looking for my partner, too,” the blonde said fondly.

“Ooooh!” Velvet giggled. “I recognize that look!”

“Huh?” Velvet’s new friend was completely clueless.

“Nevermid!” Velvet laughed. “You’ll figure it out soon enough! I’ll see you later, Yang!” The brunette bunny ran off to her other teammates who loudly intercepted her. Yang waved goodbye, but the bunny had long since looked away. At least, she had gotten the chance to save the day and meet someone new. Today hadn’t been a total waste! She chuckled to herself proudly. Dad would be so proud!

“That was awfully nice of you.” Yang grinned as she recognized her partner’s voice.

“Oh yeah!” Yang looked up at Blake and grinned. “I almost forgot you were there!”

“Forgot?” The blonde had known the whole time.

“Yeah!” Yang jumped up to the branch that Blake was resting on and crouched down with her hands gripping the branch. “I saw you from inside. I was gonna’ come see you, but then all that stuff inside happened. Damn jerks!” The blonde fumed at the thought of the whole exchange. “Y’know, I had heard about the racism, but I never thought it was this bad,” Yang lamented. “Patch is a totally different place where everyone lives in harmony. Most of the children are orphans and we do our best to take care of one another!” Blake cocked her head at the mention of Yang’s home.

“Oh?” Blake may have just figured out the answer to one of the questions bothering her about the sisters. “Is that why you and Ruby have different last names?”

“Huh? Oh, no! Gee, I guess it would seem that way when I say that and with how different we look and the whole last names thing!” Yang laughed at her blunder, but it didn’t hide the hint of sadness behind her smile. “No, Rubes and I are half-sisters. She takes after her mom, so I guess they decided to leave her as a Rose. We live with our dad, Uncle Qrow, and our cute little puppy, Zwei!” Yang laughed when she saw the shiver that travelled through Blake’s body and silently wondered about what other qualities she shared with her feline counterparts. “I helped raise Rubes, but the whole family helped out contributed to the orphanage and the Hunter’s Hall. Honestly, a lot of the Hall’s work helped keep the orphanage going!”

“Well, aren’t you just a good Samaratin!” Blake teased.

“Hey, hey, hey! Tease all you want,” Yang grinned. “But we did good things back in Patch! Dad and I even got a bunch of the kids started on Huntsman training, or at least, interested in enrolling at Signal!” Yang had changed positions so that one leg hung off the branch and she could look off in the distance as she remembered home. All of this was so exciting, but she was already starting to miss things. At least, Rubes was here, but without her here right this second, it was so damn quiet! And even moreso, not that Blake had buried her face back in that damned book. That’s when she noticed it was the same book from the other night. “Heeey, Blaaaakeeeeey?”

“Yes, Yang?” Without looking up, she decided to let the nickname go for now.

“I’m bored!”

“I’m sorr- hey!” The blonde fell on her lap, catching her off-guard. “What are you-“

“That’s the same book from the first night, right? About the guy with two souls or something?” The blonde was a little less silly than earlier, but a bit of her carefree side still showed.

“Yeah, why?”

“You wanna’ read but I’m bored and it’s too quiet.”

“That’s kinda’ the point, Yang,” Blake deadpanned. “I came here **because** it’s quiet!”

“Read it to me.”

“Excuse me?” What the hell was this blonde playing at?

“No, seriously!” Yang defended her suggestion. “It’s about a person with two souls. See, I pay attention! Read it to me!”

“O-ok… um…” Blake flipped the book open at the bookmark and found her place. She took a deep breath before she started and look at the blonde relaxed in her lap one last time. Oi…

_“I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two. I say two, because the state of my own knowledge does not pass beyond that point. Others will follow, others will outstrip me on the same lines; and I hazard the guess that man will be ultimately known for a mere polity of multifarious, incongruous and independent denizens. I, for my part, from the nature of my life, advanced infallibly in one direction and in one direction only._

_It was on the moral side, and in my own person, that I learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality of man; I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness, even if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both; and from an early date, even before the course of my scientific discoveries had begun to suggest the most naked possibility of such a miracle, I had learned to dwell with pleasure, as a beloved daydream, on the thought of the separation of these elements. If each, I told myself, could be housed in separate identities, life would be relieved of all that was unbearable; the unjust might go his way, delivered from the aspirations and remorse of his more upright twin; and the just could walk steadfastly and securely on his upward path, doing the good things in which he found his pleasure, and no longer exposed to disgrace and penitence by the hands of this extraneous evil._  
  
It was the curse of mankind that these… Yang?” 

“Hm???” The blonde opened her lilac eyes and stared into Blake’s amber orbs.

“I thought you were asleep.”

“And miss your soothing voice?” Yang teased with a warm smile. “Nah! If you’re still reading, I’m still listening.” Blake blushed at her words. Was the blonde always so flirtatious? Or did she even realize she was doing it?... Wait, she hadn’t once seen her hit on a human yet, but Blake made the second Faunus today… Then again, Yang didn’t know about her heritage, so it wasn’t like her partner was fawning over her ears. But in the very least, Blake was able to pull out of this whole situation that Ruby and Yang both had an appreciation for the Faunus struggle. It was only the heiress she needed to worry about. Blake smirked to herself and then returned Yang’s warm smile.

“Very well, Yang!” Blake decided to quote the blonde. “I’ll continue reading with my **soothing voice**!”

**ooOOoo**

_“All combat savvy Schnees.”_

Who did Ruby think she was bringing up sensitive subjects like that?! She was barely coming to terms with having that dolt as a partner, let alone leader! During team assignments, Weiss was almost positive that Ruby was flirting with her, but now she was coming to realize that Ruby didn’t actually see her as a person. Weiss was just another weapon to her. As she stalked along Beacon’s halls, the evening chill began to set in. While it was nothing like the cold of her beloved Atlas, it only aided the hollowness she felt as her heart sank.

Ruby had been extremely excited to get her hands on Myrtenaster and take a look at its construction. She had even admonished Weiss for not having proper knowledge or participated in the rapier’s construction, while her main purpose in looking was to make sure the weapon was in proper condition. Thinking about it now, the compliment that she offered Weiss in regard to Myrtenaser clearly labeled her as an ornament that went well when coupled together… and now her partner was sizing up her efficiency on the team… and she would fail for one simple reason…

Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Empire, could not summon… like “all combat savvy Schnees”.

Wind blew through the trees and rustled the leaves as night set in with a dull purple, tinted with the light orange of an almost set sun. The hole in her chest grew with the night and she felt more and more like she wanted to disappear with each passing moment. Light footsteps tapped behind her and paused. Oh… the dolt must have followed her. She blinked away the tears and prepared herself to face her “leader”.

“Weiss?” The heiress’ eyes widened and she turned around.

“Pyrrha?” Weiss’ heart sank. She had desperately hoped to be wrong – that her mind was just playing tricks and her partner truly had come to her senses and wanted to make amends. “Wh-what are you doing out here?”

“Are you alright?” The gladiator’s voice was full of concern.

“Never better!” The heiress forced a haughty tone into her voice. After all, it was second nature to her.

“I heard the door slam.” Oh… That’s right. Team JNPR was right across from them. “Are you still not getting along with your team?”

“Not getting along?” Weiss crossed her arms and hmph’d. “I’ll have you know that we have been getting along swimmingly.”

“That’s not what Ruby said.”

“Oh,” the alabaster heiress dropped her arms. “You spoke to Ruby?”

“Yeah,” Pyrrha approached her more closely. “She said that you stormed away after she praised your semblance, then she asked me to help her find you.”

“I see…”

“Weiss, if you need to talk, I’m always free,” Pyrrha began. “But I just thought that you should know Ruby was worried.”

“The only things she cares about are weapons and semblances!” Weiss shouted and turned away. “Ah, I feel like such an idiot for thinking it was me she was talking about!”

“But Ruby said she had complimented you earlier,” Pyrrha stated in confusion. “Or am I missing something?”

“No, not that!” Weiss gritted her teeth. “… During team assignments, she was praising Myrtenaster. Today, she was praising my semblance – something I can’t eve-…” She stopped herself as she realized she was about to out herself. “Something that’s not that special… But then I realized that it’s the weapons and semblances that she’s interested in. Not the people they are attached to…” A hand lightly gripped her left from behind. “Pyrrha, you didn’t see her when I met her. She terrified me and then I wound up as her partner! I was left on my own more than once. How am I supposed to follow someone who doesn’t even see me?!”

 “You’re one of the only ones that I do, Weiss.” Weiss’ eyes opened wide as she realized it was Ruby’s hand on hers. Ruby looked back at Pyrrha with a weak smile and scratched her head with her free hand. “I’ll take things from here, Pyr. Thanks again!” She waved bye to the redhead as she lead Weiss away. As both girls searched for what to say, a long silence accompanied their walk through Beacon’s campus. They came upon a metal fence and Ruby finally let go. She trotted over to the fence and hopped on it, sitting on the bar.

“I… would like to apologize…”

“Why?” A genuine cluelessness plastered across Ruby’s features.

“Uh,” the young Schnee was floored by Ruby’s forgetfulness and needed to recollect her thoughts. “For the things I said.”

“Oh, right! Totally forgot about that!” Ruby tapped the bottom of her left fist against her right palm as she recalled everything Weiss told Pyrrha. “Apology not accepted!”

“What?!” Weiss shrieked. “First you forgot and now you won’t accept it?! I’m trying to make things right!”

“I know!” Ruby her head as she grinned at her partner. “And I’m telling you that I’m not accepting it. You shouldn’t apologize for something that you truly believe, Weiss. Whether or not the things you think are true, you shouldn’t apologize for having an opinoin. That’s like… apologizing for being yourself!” Ruby waved her off. “You **are** wrong, by the way, but that’s not the point!”

“Ruby Rose, you are unbelievably frustrating!” Weiss stamped her foot in protest to Ruby’s refusal of her apology. “If you came to get on my nerves, congratulations! You have achieved your goal! Feel free to leave!” The caped girl burst into laughter at Weiss’ temper, confusing the heiress. What the hell was she trying to do?

“Look, Weiss,” Ruby wiped a tear away. “I didn’t mean to offend you earlier. With how confident you carried yourself during Initiation, I didn’t realize you were having difficulty with your semblance.”

“Wh-what?” Weiss’ voice wavered. “I have no such problem!”

“Really?” Ruby cocked an eyebrow at her. “I must be mistaken then, but I guess that means you wouldn’t have any objections to summoning something for me, right?”

“Why would I do something like that?” Weiss faced away from her and a bright white glyph appeared in the air behind her. A brief silence ensued as Ruby deadpanned at the glyph before giving a small laugh. At least, the heiress had an element of smartass to her.

“I guess I should be more specific,” Ruby commented. “Summon a Grimm, Weiss - your actual summoning ability.”

“It takes too much energy.”

“Even a little tiny ooooone?” The younger of the two asked in singsong.

“Too much…”

“Ugh!” The more darkly clad adolescent let out an aggravated sigh. She hated to do this, but it was the only real way to get anywhere with Weiss. “And you want to know why I wound up as the team leader. How are we supposed to be lead by someone who can’t even admit they have flaws?” That struck a nerve. The heiress marched over to her and pressed a hard finger into Ruby’s nose, pushing her off balance.

“At least, I didn’t abandon my partner, twice!” Weiss bit back as Ruby rebalanced herself on the fence and rubbed at her noise with a small ‘ouch’. “I’d choose someone who has flaws over someone who turns her back on her team any day!” The snowy teen’s glare intensified as she spoke. “I stayed at the top of my classes, underwent extensive testing and training, made sure I had the best equipment money could buy – all because I refuse to lose someone else ever again!” The anger is Weiss’ eyes surged. “Just to have it handed to someone who didn’t deserve it! Someone who puts her partner in harm’s way, abandons her, and then treats her like some accessory!”

“…stop…” Ruby spoke lowly and grasped the bar she sat on between both hands.

“No, you wanted to hear what I had to say, right?!” The heiress shouted. “I couldn’t use my semblance for a long while, and when it finally came to me, it took the only friend I ever had dying to unlock it and I will never let that happen again! I’m sure you can understand why it was so upsetting to find out that my team leader is someone who got lucky enough to skip a few grades and come in completely unprepared. You shouldn’t even be here, Ruby!”

**CLANK**

“You know nothing of what it takes to lead a team and protect them, Weiss!” Ruby slammed her hands into the bar to make her point. “If anyone should be at Beacon, I should! I have too much at stake for me to be anywhere else! There are things I need take care of and I don’t exactly have a whole lot of time, Weiss.” Ruby’s frustrations grew with every sentence. “I’ve had people I loved die and I felt so helpless because if I had simply been strong enough… if my semblance had been so useless…” Ruby clenched her gloved hand and reorganized her thoughts. “But I’m useful now… It takes so much more than what you’re prepared to give, Weiss.”

“You don’t know what I’ve lost, Ruby.”

“And you don’t understand what I gave for the ones I loved!” Ruby trembled before she mumbled the next set of words. “… so that we can be normal…”

“Ruby?” A stifling silence grew between the girls as the breeze rustled through the trees again.

“Weiss, believe me when I say this.” The red girl’s eyes were the most sincere that Weiss had seen them. “I don’t care about your MADR or that you can’t summon a goliath-sized Boarbatusk. You’ll get there and I’ll help where I can, but I want to know these things because I don’t want you to get hurt. I don’t want **any** of us to get hurt. You’re going to do great things with your life and I’m going to make sure that you can.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” Weiss couldn’t understand what this girl was thinking. “We’ve just met and you’re talking like some friend that’s been by my side for a while.” Ruby let out a dark laugh.

“I have, though.”

“Have you been stalking me?!”

“You know, Yang hates what your family stands for.” Oh crap… Her family must have been one of those equality freaks that hated the Schnee family for her father’s practices. “I’m not too fond either, but I know you’re not like them. Anyone who looks deeper than news headlines can see that you aren’t. You’re just… powerless to make a difference right now.” Ruby offer a weak smile. “Anyone else would try to get close to you for their own benefit. I’m not saying that I don’t have a reason, but I’m probably the only one that’s doing it because my success is when you can make a change!” The tinny drumming of Ruby’s fingers against the metal she sat on rang out as she spoke and Weiss found herself zoning in her hand as it chimed away… How strange… “The only thing Yang has against you is because I wanted you on my team. Yang and I are always together, so I may have made some… adjustments to ensure I got the team I was looking for.

“Adjustments?!”

“I know.” The crimson girl put her hands up in defense. “It sounds bad when you shout like that!”

“The Emerald Forest if huge, Ruby!” The heiress exclaimed in disbelief. “How could you **possibly** make adjustments precise enough to predict our landing points?!”

“If I told you that,” Ruby closed her eyes and spoke in a sage-like manner as she traced her thumb and index finger along an imaginary goatee. “That wouldn’t make me very mysterious at all, now would it?” The younger girl grinned widely and threw her hands behind head. “After all, I had to figure out a more impressive way to get your attention than, let’s saaaaay, blowing you up during the opening ceremony!... Weiss…” Responding to the serious tone that called her name, the heiress’ icy blue irises connected with the endless pools of mercury that defined Ruby’s very own. “Do you still think I’m unprepared?”

The young Schnee was overcome with a strange sense of danger mixed with curiosity toward the girl that sat before her. Even if they had their own qualms, it was clear that they were both interested in things that had to do with their partner, though their interests were drastically different. It wasn’t a far stretch to say that if Ruby was as good as she claimed, having her on her side made her feel secure… but it was the thought of being on the bad side of the mercilessness she felt brooding beneath those eyes. Eyes following Ruby’s hands, Weiss’ ears picked up a faint clink as they rested on the bar and stabilized her… She hadn’t said anything before, but something was off…

Why did her fingers give off such a distinct sound?

**ooOOoo**

“YYYYAAAAAAANG!!!!!!!!” The blonde was tackled by a strawberry blonde with excited blue eyes. “I’m so glad! This means you can eat with us too!!!” The blonde snagged Blake by the arm and dragged her along as Nora took off with the boxer in a choke hold. “Smart thinking, cadet! The more the merrier! Glad to have you join us, Blake!”

“Hold up, Nora!” The freckled bundle of sugared up excitement skidded to a stop, with the black and yellow duo in tow. While Nora had hit the brakes, the two partners remained in motion and toppled over into the table their friends were sitting at. “Uh, you’re supposed to stop, guys! With braking systems like that, you two would make terrible race car drivers!”

“Well,” Yang pulled herself up. “If I were driving, I wouldn’t have you choking the crap out of me!”

“Or would you?” Nora asked mischievously. “ **That** is the question!”

“Nora,” Ren interrupted. “Please calm down.” The excited girl jutted out her bottom lip to pout and slumped into the seat next to her partner.

“She’s very excitable tonight,” Weiss pointed out.

“She gets like this when she’s up to something.” Ren explained and glanced at Ruby, who was hardly paying attention to those around her and Weiss felt a pang of guilt. At the end of their talk, she was almost certain they had cleared everything up. Instead, Ruby was lost in thought with her cheek leaning into her gloved hand. Since she has slammed her hands against the bar earlier, Ruby taken notice of Weiss’ increased interest in her hand. This could cause some problems in the future.

“Yaaaaaaang!” Nora whined and the blonde raised an eyebrow at her. “There’s an actual reason I brought you over here!”

“Okay?” The blonde laughed at the overdramatics and rolled her eyes.

“Ruby’s not eatiiiing!” Nora dragged it out as if she were tattling on a sibling. “I tried to get her to go with me for food, but she won’t gooooooo! She said she’s not hungryyyy!” Suddenly, Ruby felt a dark chill travel up her spine, almost like something sinister when hovering over her shoulder. As if on cue, a firm grip wrapped around her shoulder and swung her around to meet expressionless lilac eyes. Fear shot through her as she stared into the embodiment of intimidation and Ruby let out a small ‘eep’.

“Ruby Rose!” The hulk of a blonde that made up her sister stood over her with blazing red orbs in place of her previously lilac eyes. “You are going to eat something, if I have to force it down your damn throat myself!”

“Ah!” Ruby let out a yelp as the blonde snatched her by the arm and dragged her off to order something.

“Woooooow,” Jaune gaped at the display. “Remind me not to upset her.”

“That was a little mean, Nora.” Pyrrha’s jade eyes followed the sisters with concern. “Do you normally pick on Ruby?”

“Me? What? Psh, no!” The Venetian blonde waved the incident off. “Ruby gets like that sometimes. I remember back after the accident, Ruby would get really upset and lock herself away from everyone for days. Ren and I always had to get Yang to snap her out of it!”

“Accident?” Blake’s interest had been piqued. After the Initiation, Ruby had mentioned an incident where Nora had run into that strange Grimm that Weiss saw… but Ruby also said it was non-aggressive…

“Yeah, I’m not quite sure what happened to Ruby. Renny and I draw a lot of blanks from back then, right Renny?” His gazed softened and he nodded. “But they used to try to keep all the kids from being scared. They told us all these stories about how awesome Ruby’s mom was and how she was going to save all of us, but then they disappeared and the stories stopped. I guess she came to save them and didn’t have time for us. I remember a huge fire and then when I woke up we were in Patch’s orphanage.” Blake gasped and held her hands to her mouth. That was so terrible.

“Nora and I had already been orphans,” Ren dissuaded Blake’s concern and sipped from his cup. “So it wasn’t really any different for us.”

“But Ruby and Yang’s family lived on Patch! They always came to help out with their dad and uncle, but by the time we got to see them again, Ruby and Yang were nothing like the kids we met back in Atlas. Ruby… changed… on the inside and the outside. She got scary.” Nora shuddered, clearly remembering something in particular. It was probably whatever made her not want to be on a team with either of them. “They both did… But Yang still tried to be Yang… Ruby just gave up… It wasn’t long after that we heard that her mom died in that fire trying to save them and that Ruby got hurt really badly too.” Nora’s head drooped. “I miss the happy Ruby.”

“We were never really able to find out much about what happened to them. If we brought it up, things would get really awkward and there was a lot of silence on the subject.” Ren continued where she had left off. “We did hear that they underwent a lot of physical and mental therapy and it really just became taboo to talk about. They experienced far worse things in that place that we did, but I do know that both Ruby and Yang have an **immense** hatred for the people that saved us.”

“Oh, who?” Jaune asked out of curiosity.

“The Sunrise Sisters - Reaper and Scylla!” Nora exclaimed. “Only the coolest, most badassest of UHC fighters!”

“ **They** saved you?” Pyrrha asked in astonishment.

“Oh, that’s right!” Nora laughed. “Pyrrha participates in UHC too!”

“I once had a match scheduled with Scylla, but it was cancelled for some reason.” Pyrrha lamented.

“I had heard about that!” Weiss mused aloud. “Do you know why?”

“Actually, yes,” Pyrrha stated in shame. “You know that sometimes we UHC fighters sustain very critical injuries, right?”

“Did you get hurt?” Yang’s voice broke the conversation. In one arm, two trays were neatly stacked, while the other arm pulled along a struggling Ruby, still held in the famed Xiao Long headlock. “You’re not getting out of this, Rubes. It’s dinner time and I **will** follow you all over this damn school, if it means you’ll take care of yourself!” The golden blonde turned back to the UHC fighter. “But frankly, I’d like to hear Pyrrha’s story.” The crimson and coal haired girl went limp in her sister’s arm and Yang sat her in a chair next to her, shoveling a forkful of mashed potatoes into her mouth. “Good girl! So did you get hurt?”

“Not exactly,” Pyrrha averted her eyes from the others. “My manager wouldn’t accept a handicapped match without the use of semblance, so Scylla conceded and I never got my chance.”

“That sounds kind of cowardly of Scylla, if you ask me,” Blake added.

“That’s a goddamned godsend, if you asked me,” Yang declared as she shoveled food into her mouth in irritation at the subject.

“The UHC isn’t about handicaps, Yang,” Blake frowned at the fight. “As long as you don’t kill each other intentionally, it’s pretty much anything goes. It’s barbaric, but that’s what the fans pay to see. I would have thought that you, of all people here, would know that.” Yang rolled her eyes at her partner’s jeer. It wasn’t often that Blake spoke up, but if it was something she was actively against or passionate about, she would delve into the discussion.

“I thought so too! Her manager even tried to bribe us!” Pyrrha added. “At first, I took it as an insult, but then I did some research on all of her matches and realized that they all had something in common…” Pyrrha shuddered. “I had heard rumors, but I didn’t believe it was possible that such a brutal fighter was allowed into the ring… so I watched her debut fight from about four years ago and compared it to one of her more recent matches that happened around that time… I was grossly unprepared for what I saw,” Pyrrha paused to gather her faculties and clenched her hands together. “I’ve never seen so much hate and anger in a pair of eyes before.” The gladiator’s head swayed back in forth as she grimaced at the thought of the poor fighters who had the displeasure of fighting Scylla. “Scylla is already a machine-gun in the ring, but she’s absolutely merciless when it comes to Semblance-Friendly matches and I realized that she was trying to look out for me by not using her semblance. Almost every fighter has foolishly ignored her warnings and received severe injuries… even tag team partners.” Pyrrha paused for a moment. “All but Reaper.”

“I once bought tickets to see her fight in person.”

“You did?” Yang’s eyes popped up and Pyrrha nodded.

“I got the distinct feeling that she’s a slave to her own semblance.” Pyrrha shuddered at the thought and Yang focused on her plate, absently poking food around. It didn’t go unnoticed, especially when Ruby nudged her arm and she snapped from whatever zone she had drifted off to. “It was quite disturbing. There was this miserable aura radiating from her like she just wanted it to be over. The moment her opponent activated their semblance, she lost interest and stopped fighting, then it was all over so fast. Her semblance just decimated them.”

“Last I heard, though, Scylla switched divisions,” Yang added as she scraped some food together. “Just hand-to-hand.”

“Wait,” Jaune furrowed his eye brows. “But couldn’t she have just not used **her** Semblance?”

“Nah,” Yang quickly dismissed his thoughts. “Sounds like a good idea on paper, but Scylla sucks **major** bags of dicks!”

“Yang! Language!” Ruby scolded as she shoved a piece of bread in her mouth.

“Oh, good! You finally decided to eat on your own!” Yang patted Ruby’s head, as she fumed. “Anyway, Scylla has this Semblance with passive and active natures - kinda’ like mine! Passively, I absorb the damage I take, and actively, I dish more out. If hers detects the use of Aura in the form of a Semblance, its passive nature is to protect her by lashing out and FUUUUUCK shit up.”

“Yang!”

“Alright, alright!” Yang waved down. “I don’t get what the fuss about it is though. It’s super simple. All she has to do is not apply Dust to it before the match. That’s how it acts with White dust, which is the only thing she uses in UHC. Looks like it has a mind of its own though.” Yang laughed out loud. “If ya’ll wanna’ hear a horror story, you should see her Semblance with the other elements! Hoo! Talk about scary!”

“Oh, that’s right! You guys haven’t gotten to spar with them in a while, have you?” Nora wondered out loud. “I’d really like to see Yang and Ruby go head-to-head with Reaper and Scylla in a 2v2. They hold these little tournaments in Patch at the Hunter’s Hall. Since they work with the Patch Orphanage, they promote becoming Hunters and all that, so they try to get everyone all excited. Scylla pretty much murdered Ruby last time and Reaper knocked Yang out so hard that I almost died at how cocky she was being.” Nora laughed. “It’s a shame though! I wanna’ see Yang vs Scylla and Ruby vs Reaper!”

“I’d love to have a go at that, Nora!” Yang said excitedly. “We’d totally put them in their places. I’ll show Scylla who the better Beater is and Rubes can totally lord over Support!”

“Yang…” Ruby deadpanned. “That’s not gonna’ happen. I don’t wanna’ fight them. Wasn’t the last butt whooping enough for you?”

“Hey!” Yang shouted. “I dunno’ about you, but my tush was in **exemplary** condition, thank yo- Hey!”

“Well, I dunno’ about you,” Ruby pulled at Yang’s waist band and looked down. “But I think your cheeks could use some toning.”

“Well…” Yang grabbed Ruby’s chest. “Your boobs could use some growing.”

“Maybe they would if I also fed them, but being proportionate helps me stay fast!” Ruby picked up a spoon full of mashed potatoes and shoved them into her sister’s cleavage causing Nora to jump around excitedly. During this whole mess, Weiss glanced over at Blake who was covering her nose with both hands. She reached over to ask what was wrong but then stopped herself when she noticed the blood gushing between her fingers... Remnant, help this girl…

Clearly, she had been over-stimulated by a combination of the indecent siblings, that smutty drivel she thought she kept so well hidden, and an overactive imagination. A jerk of the table caught Weiss’ attention as the blonde stumbled back into the table. Staring at the spoon jutting from her breasts, her eyes went red with fury and Ruby shrank.

“You so did not…”

**ooOOoo**

“And what went down was the single, greatest food fight in Beacon history!” Nora declared as she placed another book into the shelf. It had been so worth the last three weeks of detention and reorganizing the library shelves. “So what’d you guys do, Velvet?”

“Coco and the rest of Team CVFY didn’t take it well that CRDL has been picking on me again.” Velvet lamented. “Just don’t tell Yang!”

 **CRACK.** Several knuckles popped behind Velvet.

“Who’s been picking on my favorite bunbun?”


	5. Partners II

 

“Hey Rubes! So what did Ozpin want?” The blonde called from her bunk. The team leader had just returned from being summoned to the dean’s office. She hadn’t been quite prepared for her benefactor to reveal herself in such a candid fashion, despite the deceptively imposing façade she normally kept up. “Anything important?”

“Oh, he just wanted to discuss our tuition.” Ruby kicked off her boots and hopped up on her bed, falling flat on her back. “Soooo cooomfyyyy!”

“…” The blonde went silent for a moment and her usual cheery demeanor traded itself for a serious one. She sat up with an arm across her knee and stared expectantly at Ruby. “And?” Blake picked up on the apprehensive tone in her partner’s voice and decided to listen in, still under the guise of reading her book. Wondering if she were the only one being nosy, she cast a brief look at the heiress in the bed across from her and saw that the heiress was also concerned. Well, in the very least, she wasn’t the only one being nosy. “What does that mean, Rubes? C’mon, you can’t leave me hanging!”

“Stop worrying so much, Yang!” Ruby said with aggravated huff.

“Look Rubes, you got a full scholarship out of the whole robbery deal, but it doesn’t cover me, let alone either of our living expenses!” Yang highlighted each of the issues with two fingers. “I just need to know, are we getting kicked out or not?” The younger sister let out another loud sigh and sat up to meet her sister’s eyes. Dust, she did not want to have this conversation today.

“Kicked out?!” Eyes full of worry, Blake jumped out from under her bed and looked at Yang. They’d only known each other for the last few weeks, but as obnoxious as Yang could be, Blake found herself wanting to know sunny blonde more and more. Besides, they were currently partners and therein lay a huge issue for Blake. A team needed four people and if Weiss also lost hers, that meant they were stuck together as a two-man team… Of all people, she’d really rather not be stuck with the Faunus-hating Schnee Dust Corporation’s heiress.

“Blake, don’t worry!” Ruby tried to calm the situation down. “Yang, you know I’d let you know if there were an issue. We’re both fine! We have way more money than we need, right now.”

“What are you talking about, Rubes?” The blonde was completely confused with her sister’s confidence. “Dad and Uncle Qrow only saved a bit of money to help out. It’s gonna’ be a little while before they can make anymore payments… I don’t understand.”

“I took care of things before we got here.”

“Ruby…” The blonde stared at her, scrutinizing her from afar. “What did you do?”

“Don’t worry about it!” Ruby crossed her arms, turned away, and fell over onto her bed.

“Ruby Rose! You have 5 seconds to explain yourself or I’m coming over there!” Yang got up on her knees for emphasis, while Ruby stubbornly continued to lay in silence. “Ooone… Twooo…” Yang frowned and jumped off her bed. “Three!” Ready to brawl, Yang decided to skip the rest of the count and planted a foot into Weiss’ bed, dragging some of her papers with it.

“Hey! Watch it, you brute!” The heiress shrieked as Yang stomped into a packet of worksheets that had been neatly stapled together. “Seriously?!”

“Yang,” Blake tried to pull her away from Weiss’ bed. “Calm down!”

“What gives, Yang?! You ruined my papers!” Weiss barked at Yang and jumped up to look at Ruby. “Ruby, answer your sister before she knocks your deathtrap of a bed down! I’d rather not be crushed like my homework!”

“Ugh, fine!” Ruby rolled over to peer over her bed and Yang glared at Weiss for a moment. Oh, suuuuuuuure! She listened to the Ice Princess!... “It’s paid off already. Nothing to worry about.”

“How?” Yang demanded.

“…”

“Ruby…”

“I took one last job on before we left and received a substantial payment.”

“And you didn’t tell me?!” Yang screeched like a Nevermore. “Do you know what kind of danger you could have been in without me?!”

“See, this is why I didn’t tell you!” Crossing her arms, Ruby huffed and looked away. “You always get mad when I do things without you!”

“Because **those** **specific** things are dangerous, Ruby!” Yang’s voice cracked, hitting Ruby in her heart. “What would I do without you? You know how much I need you!” Picking up the underlying meaning behind Yang’s words, Ruby’s eyes softened as Yang’s voice became withdrawn. “… not you too…”

“I won’t leave you, Yang. You know that,” Ruby spoke softly. “It’ll take a lot more than a little job to kill little ol’ me!”

“What was it?” Ruby opened her mouth to reply, but Yang cut her off with her hand. “And don’t tell me that you’re not at liberty to discuss.  I have full disclosure to everything you do and could easily just ask the Hall for a report, but it’s faster and I’ll be less angry if you just tell me.” The drastic change in Yang’s attitude caught both Blake and Weiss off-guard. Usually, the blonde was giddy and clueless, but right now, this was a completely different side that they weren’t aware she was capable of. Then again, with Ruby’s strange temperament, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that there was a different person behind Yang’s usually sunny disposition.

“I’m tracking someone down, right now.” Ruby sighed. “I didn’t tell you because you get bored with tracking missions and you wouldn’t be very useful. If it needed muscle, I’d have told you about it. You’re more hands on, anyway.” Ruby said the last sentence under her breath.

“Track **ing**? As in, it’s still **in-progress**?” The flame of Yang’s irritation resparked as she glared at Ruby. “Does that mean they’re here at Beacon?” In response, Ruby averted her eyes and let out a weak laugh. “Seriously, Rubes? We can’t just come here and be normal students? I thought you said that was what you wanted! To be a normal girl!”

“Well, yeah! But…”

“But what?” Ruby twiddled her fingers. “One…”

“Okay!” The crimson girl threw out her hands in mock-defense. “I’m kinda’ obligated to take any requests from this client. I **can’t** say no!”

“Oh…” Yang’s eyes went hollow and she clenched her fists… “That’s the **real** reason you didn’t tell me.” Yang turned away from Ruby to head to the door, but Weiss was beside her. At the sight of the SDC’s heiress, she felt nothing but disgust and glared at her. “Move it.” Marching past the heiress, she opened the door and paused to say one last thing before slamming it behind her. “This better be the last time.”

**_Well wasn’t that just a treat._ **

_Seriously… can it…_

**ooOOoo**

After the last month of attending Beacon, Blake would say that Yang Xiao Long was definitely the person she was most fond of right now… but she hadn’t been prepared to see that look on the blonde. Until that moment, she wasn’t even sure that Yang **could** hold truly harsh feelings toward anyone, but then again, even the cheerful Ruby had a darker side that cut through her usual cheery exterior from time to time. However, the main difference was that Ruby was usually just trying to be sinister and antagonizing. There was no malice behind her words; simply unnervingly thought-provoking statements… Yang was different.

Even Yang’s worst bouts of emotional hijacking were fairly easy to read, but this time a silent anger permeated the room and Blake only felt its suffocating grasp. This felt vastly different from the lively Yang Xiao Long the obsidian Faunus had experienced before. Hatred… pure, unadulterated hatred… It reminded her of someone she once tried to escape… only still salvageable. She shivered at the thought of her former companion’s cold eyes and how the light had drained so easily from her present partner’s in that moment. As if to add to the chills, the wind blew through her as she walked along one of Beacon’s many winding pathways.

**Thwack. Thwack.**

The sound came from a nearby building, separate from the rest of the school. Though she hadn’t used this particular one, she recognized it as the gym that the students more grounded in martial arts frequented. Others tended to use the main gym since it was connected to the track field, but it was always so loud and busy. This late at night, the gym lights were usually dimmed down, unless one of the few students who had received permission for unsupervised use of single-person equipment at all hours. In this case, the available equipment would be very limited, but that was enough if this was who she thought it was. For a moment, she wondered just what it was that made her partner a special enough case to have been considered for the permit, but she also remembered that Yang could be a bit of a time-bomb when it came to her anger.

Making her way over to the open doorway, Blake peaked in and found Yang slugging away erratically at a body bag. At this point, she could tell Yang was just slamming her fists into the bag to shed her anger, but with each sloppy hit that slid off the bag, she became more frustrated. Hitting something wouldn’t transfer the pain elsewhere. It wouldn’t cry out her frustrations in her place. It wouldn’t burst at the seams like she felt she would, and even if it did, it still wouldn’t be the same. After a few more hits connected, each one losing a considerable amount of force as compared to its predecessor, Yang collapsed into the bag and slide to the floor. Holding her head in a fetal position, her body wracked heavily as she sobbed loudly. At first, Blake hesitated, but Yang needed someone.

Approaching carefully, Blake steeled herself for whatever may come of this. Crouching beside her partner, Blake called her name to make her aware of her presence. One too many close-calls with emotionally damaged Faunus had taught her how to recognize when someone shouldn’t be touched off-guard. Recognizing Blake’s voice, the blonde tried to stifle her cries, but all she did was try to put a lid on a boiling pot of water. Hoping she was making the right call, Blake reached out and gently touched her fingers to Yang’s shoulders. When the blonde didn’t recoil from her touch, the faunus took it as an invitation to further comfort her partner. Still hiccupping from her tears, Yang hid her face and still tried to muffle her cries.

“Yang, it’s alright. I’m here for you.” The feline positioned herself so that she was sitting in front of the brawler with her left hand on her shoulder. When she didn’t respond, Blake placed her free hand on the boxer’s tear-drenched cheek, lifted her face to meet her eyes, and gasped in shock. The moment their eyes met, Yang cracked under the gaze of the obsidian girl’s eyes. The tears began to flow again and Yang barreled into her partner, wailing. Taken by shock, Blake shook away her initial surprise and wrapped her arms around her partner. Usually, she was so strong, so it was heartbreaking to see the radiant woman in such a state. “It’s okay. Let it all out.” Blake cooed into the top of Yang’s head. Never had she imagined that she would be the one comforting the hard-headed blonde that shouldered other people’s problems as her own. Just what was going on?

It must have been an hour that had passed, lying on the gym floor with Yang bawling into her. After calming down to the point that there was only a sniffle here and there, Blake convinced her to move over to a wall with her. Leading her by the hand, she pulled Yang up and pulled her along, despite her unwillingness to look up. When Blake had sat down, her partner just continued to stare at the ground, silent and unmoving, until Blake took her hand in hers once more. Tilting her head slightly, Yang focused on the hand wrapped around her own almost as if it the action itself was something foreign to her and then met the golden eyes of her partner.

Tugging gently, Blake pulled Yang down and she relented, wrapping her arms around Blake’s waist as she buried her face in her. After crying like that, Blake found it a bit silly that Yang would want to hide her face, but every so often, she rubbed at Yang’s shoulder to offer comfort. A thought had crossed her mind to run her hands through the blonde’s hair, but she had witnessed an Ursa damage a single strand and pay dearly for it. She mentally shivered at the thought but then recalled that she was also **not** a Grimm and they were partners. Would she care?

Against her better judgment, Blake trailed her fingers along the blonde’s bicep lightly, past her deltoid, and along her shoulder. Tracing a path that Yang would hopefully understand, she received a small shiver from the blonde. She stole a side glance down at her and noticed the blonde had shifted her head so her eyes were visible – staring away from her, but visible. Like this, Yang seemed so child-like – safe and relaxed, accepting Blake’s advances. Continuing on her path, she hesitated once she reached the blonde’s hairline and felt the blonde tense up. Deciding that maybe she should have listened to her first instinct, Blake withdrew her hand, but Yang held her hand in place and shifted to look at her.

“It’s okay if it’s you.” The blonde guided Blake’s hand forward and Blake touched her fingertips to the golden strands. It was as soft as she had imagined. Well-cared for and satin-like, the luxurious mane ran smoothly through her fingers as she trailed down the brawler’s well-defined back. As her locks parted with her fingers, Blake caught a strange black marking on the blonde’s back. Interesting. She had always imagined that later in life, Yang would be the type to sport a tattoo, but not yet. Maybe at a more appropriate time, the blonde would show her. Instead, she brushed the hair out of Yang’s face and stroked behind her ear, sending another shiver through the blonde, who closed her eyes as she relished in the feeling. Blake smiled and ran her thumb across the top of her ear.

“If you’re not careful, you’ll fall asleep like this.”

“Mmm.”

“You should sleep in bed,” Blake spoke softly. “The others will worry if we’re not back soon.”

“Comfy here.” The half-asleep girl disputed, snuggling into Blake’s lap. “Rubes doesn’t care anyway.”

“Well, I care,” Blake frowned. “And I don’t want my partner sleeping on the gym floor.” A mischievous smile worked its way across Yang’s lips and she finally reopened her eyes to give Blake a sly look.

“But I’m not on the floor!” She grinned. “I’m on a Blakey!”

“Oh my Dust!” Blake pushed her off and stormed away from her.

“Waaaait!” The blonde jumped up and ran after her. “Don’t leave without me!”

**ooOOoo**

“You can glare at me all you want, Weiss.” Ruby eyed the digital display on her scroll to check the time. 10:15PM. “I mean, it’s only been about an hour. I’m sure there are other things you’d rather be looking at…” Hmmm, an hour… Yang should be calming down about now… Why hadn’t she responded to her texts yet?! There was no reason for her to be as upset as she was! At least… that’s what Ruby tried to convince herself. She hadn’t been quite honest and she knew Yang could see through it. After all, when she ran into Torchwick, it hadn’t exactly been an accident...

“You’re a working student?!” Weiss shrieked. “Isn’t that against the rules?!”

“Well, aren’t you?” Of course, Ruby would retort with Weiss’ status as a Schnee. It was well-known that Weiss was would inherit the SDC once her father retired, but that was still a ways away.

“That isn’t the same, Ruby, and you know it! I can see what you’re doing!” The young Rose was obviously trying to change the subject. “You’re deflecting! This isn’t about me! This is about you! Assuming that by **Hall** , Yang meant Patch’s Hunter’s Hall, how are you even old enough to take on those kinds of jobs? They’re too dangerous for students!” Something clicked in Weiss’ head as she looked at Ruby. “Did you lie about your age? Forge documents?!... Ruby, are you involved in something illegal?!”

“Don’t be silly, Weiss!” Ruby waved her off and kicked herself back. “I live in Patch. **Everyone** knows me!”

“All the more reason that this is wrong!”

“But Weeeeeeeeiss, I repair stuff for them all the time! Ah!” Ruby sat back up, excitedly, and whipped out a sheet of paper and went to work scribbling across it. “Which reminds me! It’s time for Myrtenaster to get a tune-up!”

“Ruby Rose,” Weiss put her hands on her hips. “Don’t you try to change the subject on me!... And don’t you dare start making plans for my weapon without me!”

“Gah!” Ruby scoffed in offense. “How could you!!! Myrtenaster is not just a weapon! She’s a part of you, Weiss! Just like me and Crescent Rose!”

“… That’s what you took offense to…” Rubbing her temples, Weiss drew in a sharp breath and mumbled to herself. “Not me scolding you. Not me telling you no. But me not identifying with my weapon offends you…”

“UWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!” An excited scream came from across the hall and Weiss jammed her hands over her ears. What was with that incessant screaming?! Could JNPR not contain Nora, at all? They had Ren, for Remnant’s sake – the Sugar Queen’s kryptonite!

“I wonder what Nora is so excited about,” Ruby half-wondered as she looked back at her phone. “Damn! Why isn’t Yang texting me back!” There was a moment of silence and Weiss wondered about something that had been mentioned.

“Was she who you were talking about?”

“Huh?” Ruby stopped fiddling with her phone for a moment and looked at Weiss.

“Your sister…” Weiss averted her eyes. “You said ‘ _so that we can be normal’_ that you gave a lot up. Yang also said it earlier… Did you give something up for her?” Ruby’s silence was answer enough. “I don’t mean to pry and I’ll wait for you to answer when you feel it’s right, but Blake and I both want to understand the two of you more. I get it – it’s hard to let people into your world, especially when you feel like it’s just the two of you. I’ll…” Weiss straightened her skirt out. “I will admit that I have thought some… strange things about the two of you.”

“Oh?” There was no answer. “Oh, c’mon Weissy, you’re not gonna’ leave me hangin’ are you?”

“You’re not going to start on your sister’s trend with Blake, now, are you?” Weiss’ eyes flattened at her younger counterpart.

“Probably!” Ruby chirped.

“Wonderful,” the sarcasm dripped from the heiress’ voice and Ruby stared at her expectantly. “…Oh, fine! I hate when you stare at me like that!” Weiss pouted to herself. “You and your sister are uncomfortably close and Blake and I have been wondering if you are actually sisters, like you say, or if it’s something more complicated.”

“Uncomfortably… close?” The crimsonette blinked twice after each word.

“Oh, you’re going to make me explain this, aren’t you,” Weiss wiped her hand down her face, pulling her features as went. Thank Dust she had already removed her make-up. “Are the two of you in a relationship? Maybe, you’re just dating and don’t want to tell us? She’s very clingy and intimate with you and we don’t buy that you’re siblings!” Ruby started snickering. “What is so-” Weiss started to yell, but then stopped after she was hit with a sudden wave of embarrassment. “I’m going to feel like an idiot after this, aren’t I?”

“Probably.”

“Alright,” Weiss resigned herself to her fate. “Hit me with it.”

“Yang and I are half-sisters,” Ruby started and then pointed to herself. “I look **exactly** like my mom, while Yang looks like her mom, if she had our dad’s hair color and both their eye colors mixed together.” Ruby’s expression turned fond. “Her mom left before she could form any memories but Yang’s always been looking for her. Mom raised her though, so she always looked at her as the only mom she’ll ever have. As for our ‘relationship’, that would be incest and that’s gross!” Ruby turned a little sheepish. “See, we do tend to get looked at a little weird because of how close we are, but it’s because there are things that we can only talk about with each other – things that no one else has gone through, things that I still have to go through - and I would never wish them on anyone. Even though Yang is my big sis, she’s also the closest thing I have to a mom, right now, and we’d do anything to protect each other.”

“Closest thing to a mom?”

“Mom passed away when I was six.”

“Ruby, I’m so sorry!”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Ruby smiled. “It still hurts a lot but… well, she died a hero! And I still have Yang, and dad, and Uncle Qrow!... And now I have these awesome teammates and friends that make school totally awesome!” Sending a fond smile toward Weiss, Ruby looked back at her phone and checked her messages for what had to be the 100th time.

 Seriously though, why hadn’t Yang responded?! She was starting to get wor-… Oh… Right there at the top of her phone was the answer to all her problems… She grimaced at the absent signal bars that blocked her reception… Damn those pesky towers and this phone’s inability to reach them at the moment. Ruby started to wave her phone around, crawling to the opposite corner of her bed and lowering the phone halfway past her mattress… Nope… Damn! She tried again, this time leaning half-way out toward Yang’s bed… Eureka!

“What **are** you doing?”

“Huh?” Ruby looked at Weiss, whose brows were furrowed at her… Oh, this must seem silly to her. “Heheheh, ummmm. No signal?”

“No… signal?” Weiss was incredulous. “That’s impossible!”

“Look, princess!” Ruby frowned as she teased with her. “Just because you’re- whoa!” Ruby caught herself from falling halfway through. “Rich, that doesn’t mean we can all afford the most expensive and reliable phone service. I lose connection, and right now, I’m trying to reestablish connection with my siste-waaaah!” Ruby barreled off the bed and faceplanted into the ground.

“Why not ask if you can use mi-“ Just then, the door slammed open with the aforementioned blonde and Blake dove through.

“Rubes! Prepare yourselves! Nora is coming!” A flash of orange was sighted behind Yang and the blonde’s eye went wide. She turned around quickly and slammed the door in the strawberry blonde’s face, pushing against it with all her might.

“Seriously, Yang?” Blake pressed against the door, as well. “Games of Thrones references?”

“I knew you’d catch that, Blakey!” The blonde chirped happily.

“You can’t hide from me!!!” With every push, the door budged.

“Help!” Yang looked back at the red and white duo. After comprehending the situation, they joined Yang in trying to barricade the door with their bodies.

“What did you do to her?!” Weiss accused, still pressing against the door.

“I didn’t do anything!”

“So why don’t I believe you?!” Weiss glared harder.

“Honest! I didn’t!” Yang grounded herself as Nora gave an exceptionally hard push. “I’m protecting us all from what’s coming!”

“…What is?” Ruby asked cluelessly.

“Nora!”

“Well, yeah! Why is she coming?” There was no response. “Blake?”

“The TV,” was all the black and white girl offered.

“Is that what she was screaming about?” Weiss deadpanned. “This is all over the TV?”

“You don’t understand,” Yang said white with fear. It was suspiciously quiet. “Anyone else think this is ominous?”

“Oh, congratulations,” Weiss rolled her eyes. “The troublemaker can put 2 and 2 together.” As if on cue, Nora dive-bombed through the door, connecting with Ruby and tumbled across the floor. Weiss looked across the room to see the rest of JNPR hiding behind the walls. Behind them was an extremely crude slingshot that Nora had constructed of knee socks and attached to the bedposts… How the hell was it even possibly for her achieve enough tension to… Never mind, this was Nora after all. Her head would hurt more trying to comprehend the process than just taking it for what it was… Something the Venetian blonde shared with Weiss’ own unorthodox partner.

“What the heck, Nora!” Yang yelled.

“THEY’RE COMING THIS WEEKEND!!!”

“Who is?!” Weiss yelled.

“THE SUNRISE SISTERS!!!!”

Oh shit…

 


	6. Partners III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Woo Another chapter for you guys! Updates have been slow, but all is well. Ironically, I feel like I'm only able to get chapter done when things are not well. I finally get to go back to work today. I've been on Workman's Comp for the last month. Kitchen jobs suck, but at least it wasn't a cooking injury. I just apparently am really good at achieving impossible injuries. Last time, it was tearing my meniscus while sorting laundry, this time it was dislocating an arm, bursitis, and tweaking my rotator cuff while putting up the walk-in. Woot! The guys aren't gonna' let me live this down. They keep saying I'm too hard-headed and need to learn to ask for help. Oi... Anyways, have fun!

 

" _Hey… hey… are you awake?" The voice was so tiny but familiar. She felt a buzz of warmth as she recalled the face of the owner… but she only drew a blank… She'd been here before. Why was it always so hard?_

" _Hey…" She opened her eyes and stared sadly at the featureless face before her… such a tiny person. She struggled to remember who this person was, but all she could remember was a young boy. They had both been similar in age when they had met, but for some reason, he always had the saddest expression across his round, little features. There were so many things she couldn't remember about him; just that something was off about him… and those two features. Red hair, so much like Ruby's... Ruby? Who was Ruby?_

_Joyful, silver eyes and an equally bright smile flashed through her mind and she smiled. She just needed a moment to gather her thoughts and remember. That's right - Ruby. She could recall her face in an instant. Ruby and this boy; they mirrored each other so much, even though they were complete opposites. She recalled that, on rare occasions, this boy could also have the brightest smile, but just like Ruby, there was sometimes this dark hole that ate through their pseudo-happiness. However, unlike Ruby, his eyes were a piercing red that sharply contrasted the hard steel that colored her own._

" _I miss you, Weiss."_

" _I miss you too, R-…" What was she going to say?... R?… What was his name? They had known each other for almost a year and she had called him his name every single day. She remembered that… Why had they separated? Where was he now?_ ** _She needed him… WHY WASN'T HE WITH HER?!_**

" _Weiss?..."_

" _R-…" She opened her mouth to say his name, but nothing came out. She knew his name. She knew she did._

" _Please?" The sadness in his eyes conveyed a great hurt as his voice broke. "Y-you always say it, Weiss… Just say it," he pleaded. "I remember you!" But Weiss was silent. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't recall his name – only the R-sound._

" _I can't." The words echoed in the darkness that surrounded them and everything became still between them. She had broken him. Everything that little boy had ever meant to her was simply gone. He was gone. Everything was gone…She brought her hands to her lips and choked back a cry as she whispered to herself._

"… _You died…" A bright light pierced the darkness from behind Weiss and the boy shielded his eyes as the automatic doors split. Still, the only thing Weiss could make out were those pleading crimson gems. He had always been an enigma to her. A figure stood in the doorway and beckoned Weiss to return to the other side, but the boy grasped her arm._

" _Don't leave me!" He was desperate. "I'm not dead yet!"_

" _I have to go. If I stay here…"_

" _I'll protect you! All you need to do is-" He ran toward the door at full speed._

" _No! Don't!" Heart racing, Weiss reached after him but she was too late. Her eyes widened as the boy jumped in the air, lunging after whoever stood beyond. Time froze and something slender blew through the boy's chest, dragging a long trail of blood behind it. With a sudden force, he was knocked in the opposite direct and a large pale blue glyph stood boldly in the air. The boy's blood spattered against it and he fell to the ground limp and lifeless. Weiss fell to her knees, unable to make a sound, tears burning at her eyes… they flowed. With an unrelenting force, the gates to the damn broke and her emotions raged._

**_Just call me what you always do._ **

**ooOOoo**

Weiss' eyes shot open and hot tears poured from them. She brought her hand to her mouth to muffle her crying and rolled away from where the rest of her team slept. If anything, she didn't want them to wake up and see her this way. It wasn't the first time she'd had this dream and it certainly wouldn't be the last. It had, however, been the first time she had drawn a comparison to Ruby in that dream.

Normally, Weiss was alone with the boy until an unknown person entered the room and murdered him. They were the only two that ever appeared and Weiss could recall nothing of the world outside that dream or even that moment. This time, when she tried to remember his face, she thought of Ruby… Had he always looked like that though? Or was she just projecting Ruby's image onto him since she was someone easily recognizable? She didn't know. All she could remember about the incident was that she had been powerless to stop it. He had been her first true friend and she failed because she had yet to come into her own power – to command glyphs. Ironically, that very same incident was what unlocked them - the pain of being so utterly helpless… so useless. Her tears now dry; she rolled onto her back and wiped the remains away.

Dimly lit curtains, silence – minus the breathing of the blonde - and hot tears: These were the very things the heiress now associated with dawn, whereas back in her home in Atlas, it had simply been tears and utter silence. Black out curtains had long since destroyed any chance of sunlight peeking through and left her to determine the time of day herself because "Schnee are always aware". It had been her father's ploy at self-awareness and discipline.

Here, after the tears subsided, this was a time where she could simply relax in the world beyond her closed eyes during those last few moments before she began her wake-up routine. On any other occasion, she would listen for the tweets of morning birds, signaling it was time to hit the shower before the others could wake up… but her bed offered comfort she felt she needed more than usual this morning and the birds gifted her with a serene song and she felt a welcome calmness wash over her soul. Five more minutes could be spared.

**SCREEEEEEE**

"What in Dust's name is that?!" With the speed of a hawk, Weiss bolted from her comfort zone, locating the caped leader that grinned behind the whistle clenched in her teeth. Behind her, Blake shifted and sandwiched her head between two pillows - clearly a futile attempt at ignoring this morning's commotion. "Ruby, I swear to Dust if I hear that thing one more time – ." A loud groan from above Blake cut the heiress off.

Exemplifying a grace only rivaled by that of a lethargic koala, Yang flopped over the side of her bunk and hit the ground face-first. How she had not managed to take the bed with her was beyond Weiss, so she supposed there was some amount of elegance to her display. Still post-faceplant, the older sibling reached around aimlessly, finally settling on the desk centered between the bunks. The zombified girl pulled herself up before staggering toward her sister, pausing only to scratch. A yelp of surprise escaped the smaller sister as Yang hooked a leg around one of Ruby's and took her down to the ground and proceeded to... cuddle.

"Yang!... C'mon! It's time to get up!" Try as she might, Ruby's attempts to squirm from Yang's clutches were all for naught. In fact, it only furthered the painful process as the blonde held her closer and mumbled mid-sleep. Well… at least they were back to being sisterly and not arguing… Speaking of which, she needed to remember to thoroughly question the younger one about the previous night's events later. Yang would definitely not tell her anything. The blonde seemed to harbor some sort of ill feelings toward her on a personal level, but Weiss wasn't sure what she had done. When she thought about it, Yang had been like that since day one.

"Mmm… no… sleepy sleep, Rubes… we'll go to the park," Yang let out a yawn. "Later." With that last word, the blonde returned to her previous comatose state. In a last ditch effort, Ruby managed to free an arm and took a deep breath, sending a fresh wave of panic through the heiress.

"Ruby, I swear, if you-" SCREEEEEEEEEEEE-urk! It seemed that Blake shared much the same sentiment as Weiss, as the pillow that had previously completed Blake's "Silence Sandwich" slammed into Ruby's face - an act of war apparently enough to wake the sleeping giant.

"What gives, Blake!" Still embracing her sister, Yang glared at her darker counterpart.

"Unlike you, some of us can't just sleep through bombs and whistles," Blake snapped back. As if to emphasize Blake's point, Ruby gleefully gave a short chirp to the whistle. A sigh escaped the blonde and she gave an unimpressed look to her bubbly, baby sister. An awkward silence ensued and Ruby became unnerved under her sister's stare until Yang inched uncomfortably closer and closer to Ruby's face. Ruby attempted to flee, but Yang grasped her by her wrists and pinned her against the dresser behind her, drawing her face ever closer to the younger sister. As the blonde inched closer, Blake's eyes widened and her ears instinctively perked up, bearing against the velvety texture of the bow that hid them away. In hopes that she wasn't the only one turned on by this strange turn of events, she glanced at the alabaster member of Team RWBY and felt relieved to find her blushing at their suggestive position. She sighed internally and a small sound caused her ear to twitch slightly in response, so she returned her sights to the sisters.

"Er, HRang?" Compromised by the whistle stuck in her mouth, Ruby tried to call her sister's name, but the result was badly muffled words. A faint click of teeth against metal froze the room as Yang gently bit down on the opposite end of the whistle and relieved Ruby of its ownership. Whistle still in mouth, Yang lightly tapped her forehead against Ruby's. Letting Ruby fall to her knees, Yang calmly climbed back up to her bunk, and with a heavy thud, collapsed onto the mattress and resumed her slumber. This left Blake and Weiss to their own mental conflictions over whether they had just witnessed something incredibly hot or extraordinarily creepy. Instead, Weiss recalled her conversation with Ruby about the behavior, and elected to block it out, leaving Blake alone with whatever fantastical filth had engulfed her mind, but one thing was certain. The buxom blonde was incredibly overwhelming in a one-on-one situation.

"Yaaaang! You still have to get up!" A quick middle finger was the response Ruby received. "I realize you're still mad at me, but we have Professor Port's class before Miss Goodwitch's class! If we're late to his class again, he's gonna' tell her and then she's gonna' make us do something ridiculous again… Like reorganizing the library again!" Ruby huffed. "Not to mention we need to do stretches!" A loud exhale came from across the room.

"Clearly, we're not going back to sleep at this rate." The heiress stood up and grabbed her frosty attire. "If any of you need me, I'll be 'waking up' in the shower…"  _Heeeh, heeeh, heeeh._  Perverse laughter grew from Yang's mattress and the blonde's sly face peeped over the side.

"Do you want some help 'waking up', Princess?" The question was riddled with the blonde's whimsical nature and all was silent as the brawler grinned smugly, resulting in a quick change of the ivory girl's pale complexion to a flustered red. Grabbing the first item on her person, a wad of cloth was slung in Yang's direction, hitting her in the face and tangling itself in her bangs. Detangling the item from her hair, Yang's mischievous grin gained a fox-like quality and Ruby blushed at the new ammo for her sibling's arsenal. "Well, Princess, you move awfully fast! I'm flattered, but I usually prefer to take them off, myself!" She winked and blew a kiss, before sling-shotting Weiss' lacy panties back to her. With an inward scream and no words to combat the champagne-maned vixen, Weiss slammed the bathroom door behind her. The two sisters shared a look and Ruby shook her head at Yang. "What! You wanted me up! I'm up!" The more reticent member of the team just stared on in shock.

Overwhelmed by last night's events and this morning's whistle debacle, Blake collapsed back onto her bed and contemplated how unprepared she was for the day. Seriously, how likely would it have been for Yang to have been granted that gym permit?! Wait… speaking of permits… She had come to a realization last night...

Why were they the only dorm room on the floor with a built-in bathroom?

**ooOOoo**

"Oh my God, we made it!" Yang collapsed behind the desk as the bell rang. The rest of Team RWBY followed suit with Yang sitting at one end of the group and Weiss on the other. A fidgety Blake sat between the sisters and awkwardly twiddled her thumbs, hoping to put distance between this morning's uncomfortably close kin. From her peripheral, Yang noticed her partner's apprehension and attempted to put her at ease with a shameless coo into her ears. "You alright, Blakey?" At the sound of her nickname, Blake's panic ceased and she pulled away. Why was it that everything the blonde did had to seem so suggestive?

"Oh… er… Yeah! I just…" Amber eyes danced about looking for any excuse, landing on the chocolate chip cookie in her leader's mouth… Ruby's mouth… Yang… so close… Visibly, she shuddered and shook the thoughts away. "I forgot to eat!"

"Oh… well, that's not good! Goodwitch's class is next and that's, like, the worst class to forget to eat before! Good thing this is still Port's class. Tell ya' what," wrapping an arm around Blake and bringing her in close, Yang looked around as if to make sure no one was listening in on a secret. After ensuring the coast was clear, she whispered into Blake's ear, sending shivers down her spine. "Ask Rube's for a cookie. I'm sure she won't mind." Yang shifted Blake's head to place the crimson and coal girl in her line of sight. As she sobbed into a cookie, poor Ruby was still being scolded by her partner over this morning's antics. "I'm sure she'd love some saving, right no~ow," Yang ended in a singsong. She grinned and cupped her hands around her mouth for a makeshift speaker. "Rubes… Pssst!... Rubes…" The unruly girl's volume rose with every word as she tried to get her sister's attention. "… **Rubes!** " Cookie still hanging from her mouth, Ruby looked over her shoulder and acknowledged her sister. If she didn't, she'd only get louder… and then Weiss would yell more. "Give Blakey a cookie!" At the notion of enlisting someone else into the 'Chocolate Chip Camaraderie', Ruby hastily dished out two cookies, placing one between a stupefied Blake's lips and letting it hang there. Clueless, the girl returned to her scolding, while the older sibling snickered at Blake's expense. Sighing in defeat, Blake closed her amber eyes and nibbled at the treat. There was no use arguing when it came to these two.

"Ruby, since you were so busy avoiding questions yesterday, did you happen to study for today's lecture?"

"Eeep!" The young Rose jolted. "Uhhh, yeah!" She squeaked out past her cookie and the Schnee's eyes narrowed on her. "Well, I mean, I flipped through a few pages!"

"Unbelievable! Do you even know what today's class is about?" Ruby shrank into her seat and became smaller.

"Oh ho ho ho! So youthful is the youth of today! It warms me to know that Team RWBY has the answers for today's class!" The jolly professor looked at the team. "Why I remember when I was a spry young lad taking my classes head on each day! Oh, were those the days! Miss Schnee, why don't you enlighten us on what today's class is about!"

"Oh, um," she stood up and straightened out her skirt. "We're discussing the origins of Grimm. It's best to know our enemy's beginnings in order to better understand them!"

"Very good! Spoken like a true Schnee! Tenacity is what builds character and on many occasions, saved my life! Miss Belladonna, where do the Grimm come from?"

"They are born from the negative emotions that humans and Faunus suffer. It also draws them close." Blake's answer was almost textbook.

"Ah, correct you are, young one! One's emotions must be kept in constant check! It is veritable proof that one has a soul, and through our souls, Aura is born. Every living thing has a soul, and in that respect, is capable of producing Aura. Miss Xiao Long, if Aura is present in all living things, then why can Grimm not use it?"

"The text book says they don't have souls, which means they don't classify as living things," the blonde answered flatly, seeming disinterested in the subject. His interest piqued, the professor chuckled and bade for more.

"While that is correct, your words tell me that you do not believe the text. I'd like to hear your own ideas, Miss Xiao Long."

"It's not so much an idea, as it is a concept that we don't give any thought. Grimm don't have souls, but we do. What if a human were born without a soul? Would they be considered a Grimm?" The blonde's eyes burned with something both sad and dark. Eyes laced with concern, Blake watched her partner carefully. It was rare that a serious side of Yang ever came out, but this one seemed almost desperate. "Or even, a human's soul was stripped from them? Or if a Grimm could produce Aura? Grimm are those without souls. Would those humans now be Grimm? And would those Grimm simply be forgiven now that they have resolve?"

"Interesting, Miss Xiao Long, but there have been no known cases of such a thing occurring. Is there a reason that you ask?"

"I… No, there's no reason," the blonde drifted into her own world.

"Yang…" Blake said softly.

"It's nothing, kitty cat. Don't worry about me," she assured. "It's fine."

"Hmmm, I wonder," the portly professor eyed the leader of the team and smiled. Her sister's outburst had certainly been interesting. Clearly, Team RWBY held some of the more profound thinkers in the class, despite their aloof nature. As he stared at the girl in red, he was suddenly reminded of a young girl in a similar white hood who had sat in that very seat almost 20 years ago. Sitting in that very seat, he had asked her a question that had a sparked a very passionate outburst and he wondered what he might here if he asked it once more. "Miss Rose, would you mind humoring an old man with the origins of the Grimm?" Ruby's expression turned serious as she locked eyes with the professor, but as she opened her mouth to respond, Weiss cut her off.

"It's a trick question, you dolt. It's the same question that Blake answer, just reworded."

"Grimm are Remnant's punishment for the sins of humanity. While humans were once welcomed, we stole the land from its rightful people and became parasites. If you compared Remnant to the human body, the Grimm act as antibodies and we are the sickness."

"Oh my Dust! You seriously didn't read the text book, did you?!"

"Ha, next thing you're gonna' tell us is that Remnant belongs to the animals!" Cardin Winchester bellowed from the other side of the classroom, earning a sharp glare from the Rose-Xiao Long sisters. "Oh man! You do! That's great! They aren't even civilized!"

"Mr. Winchester, that's uncalled for. The only animal that remains to be seen is yourself! Please, keep all uncivilized comments to yourself!" Professor Port turned back to Team RWBY. "Miss Schnee, regardless of whether it is in the text book or not, many legends and beliefs are passed down many walks of life. Not all are correct, but not all are incorrect. You could say that one of the more enjoyable parts of this class is its philosophy. Miss Rose, you are Summer Rose's daughter, no?"

"…Yes…"

"Ah! As I thought! I've only had the pleasure of hearing this particular telling of how Grimm came to be once before. I would like very much for you to share it with us. I truly think that it gives a plausible explanation for some of the things that we do not understand about Remnant."

"Oh, um, I normally get told I'm crazy by this time," she said sheepishly, but the professor urged her on. "Well, as the story was passed down, our ancestors originated from a far away place called Earth – a world whose night sky was lit by only a single, solid moon. Sadly, our ancestors' home was polluted and on the verge of dying. Hoping to heal their home, our ancestors left in search of way to restore it to its former beauty. After a long time searching, they came upon Remnant, a rich and lush world that reflected their home in its glory days.

After setting foot on Remnant's surface, two humans made the initial contact with the planet's people, the Faun. With swift use of technology, the human's were able to establish a connection with the Faun leaders and learn each others' languages. The Faun were so moved by the humans' plight that they taught them to unlock and use Aura. They showed them how the resource now known as Dust interacted with their Auras and how they could use it to heal their home. Thankful for their help, the humans left for home to begin the healing process, but when they returned, it was already too late. The Earth itself had withered and become as broken as Remnant's Shattered Moon.

Rife with grief, the humans drifted through space, until fate drew them back to Remnant. With welcome arms, the Faun accepted the humans and shared their space with them, but it wasn't long until it became too much for Remnant to bear. Unlike the humans, the Faun did not have the despair or anguish that leaked from the humans' Aura. Without a way to process the darkness they exuded, the negative emotions took shape and terrorized humans and Faun alike, bringing despair to Remnant's people, and Remnant cried for her children.

History tells us that The Dark Continent is where the Grimm first appeared, but it would be Atlas where the first humans settled and the first Grimm appeared."

"Okay, Ruby, you can stop making up stories now. Everyone knows that Atlas is the safest place from Grimm. The Dark Continent is full of them. It's a breeding ground for the monsters," the heiress was infuriated at the suggestion that her home was where the Grimm originated.

"Hah! How little you know, Princess."

"Yang," Ruby warned. "Weiss and I are both entitled to our own beliefs. As long as I can answer the questions on the test right, there should be no reason to complain, right Weiss?"

"Well… yes, that would suffice, but it's wrong. If we went by your belief, then you are saying that Grimm are directly tied to the existence of humans only and not Faunus. You are also saying that humans are from another planet entirely, but humans have been on Remnant as long as time."

"Look, Weiss, hasn't if ever struck you as odd that Human Semblances seem more aggressive where Faunus semblances are more graceful and natural? Like a gift from nature; like it belongs there."

"We could say yours is graceful and Faunus-like, then, Ruby… or are you just an exception?" Ruby simply smiled. Huh?

"Ah, you caught me, Weissy," she grinned. "Guess my story has its flaws." Weiss eyed her suspiciously. She gave up way too easily.

"Ahuh-huh-hem!" The professor cleared his throat. "Miss Rose, I would very much love to pick your brain on this story in the coming days! I shant pass it up a second time!"

"Oh, uh… I'll see what I can do?" Ruby nervously scratched the back of her head and gave a weak laugh.

"See to it that you do, Miss Rose! Oh, I do love the many lores of Remnant." The portly man began to prattle on. "They tell us so much of our people, the land, the Grimm… If it weren't for the stories passed down, I may not have been able to pull my team out of the clutches of a flock of Gryphons! It was a terrible time when…" From there on, the rest of the professor's lecture was lost on Weiss. Instead, thoughts of Ruby's story pervaded her mind and she was unsure as to why it bothered her so… Just what on Remnant was going on in that dolt's head?!

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Keep Ruby's lore in mind guys! It’s super important to the story. Anyway, the Partners Arc is pretty much filling out a little bit about character backstories so that we are more familiar with the non-canon alterations. I’m also offering a bit of world lore, as well.


End file.
